SSE acquires first solar farm and signals ‘serious ambitions’ in the market

SSE has acquired its first solar farm, taking on the development rights for a 30MW solar farm at Littleton Pastures from Stark Energy.

The site is located near Evesham in Worcestershire, covers 77 acres and is expected to be completed in late 2023.

It forms part of the energy major’s £12.5 billion investment plan, detailed in its Net Zero Acceleration Programme in 2021. This includes a £7 million daily investment into low-carbon infrastructure, with SSE highlighting solar as a complimentary technology.

Richard Cave-Bigley, SSE sector director for distributed generation and storage, said the acquisition was a “significant milestone” for the company, and demonstrated its “serious ambitions in this market”.

“Last year we announced our first battery storage project, and we are fully focused on developing over 1GW of solar and battery technology. We look forward to being able to announce further solar and battery projects during 2022.”

The purchase of the Littleton solar farm follows SSE acquiring the development rights for its first 50MW battery storage asset from Harmony Energy in August 2021.

SSE’s move into the solar sector comes as suppliers in the UK increasingly look to boost their renewable energy portfolios. Most recently, ScottishPower’s parent company Iberdrola purchased a portfolio of 800MW of solar projects at the preconstruction phase from Elgin Energy and Lightsource bp.

Along with solar, SSE is looking to wind power to bolster its clean energy capacity, including the development of the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm – the largest in the world. Additionally, it won a contract to develop a floating wind project this week as part of the ScotWind Leasing round.