Following completion of Lark Energy's first phase of large scale solar projects, totalling 60 MWp, the Bourne-based company has recently secured planning permission for a further 100 MWp of solar parks.

Projects include two former airfields in Suffolk: Broxted, at the site of the former RAF Stradishall (35 MWp) and Ellough (14 MWp). Three further consents have also been gained: South Creake in Suffolk (26 MWp); Thornham in Norfolk (15MWp); and Burton Pedwardine in Lincolnshire (15 MWp).

Having constructed more than 20 MWp of projects, Lark Energy (www.larkenergy.co.uk) - which is part of the Larkfleet Group (ww.larkfleetgroup.co.uk) - will also look to take the lead role in the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) on the majority of the sites together with the provision of ongoing operations and maintenance (O&M) services.

Jonathan Selwyn, managing director of Lark Energy, commented: "As a leading solar developer, we are delighted to demonstrate our commitment to the UK market by securing our latest planning consents for a range of large scale sites. We are optimistic about future opportunities in the solar sector, although clearly we remain concerned about the impact of the current European trade dispute with China."

Jo Wall, development director of Lark Energy, commented on the planning consents: "As a responsible developer we select and develop our sites with the utmost care following extensive engagement with local communities. As a result, we have been able to continue our impressive track record in achieving consent on all sizes of project."
Paul Adams, director of Lark Energy noted that "these projects mark the latest stage in Lark Energy's ambition to become a leading EPC and O&M provider. We are developing very successful partnerships with a number of funders who both buy the ready-to-build projects from us and also engage Lark Energy's services as a high quality and fully bankable EPC for large scale solar in the UK."

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Photo caption: Lark Energy managing director Jonathan Selwyn at one of the company's PV solar parks.


 

The Cambridge Retrofit Project will function partly as a social enterprise and partly as a professional delivery service and it is being run by representatives from organisations and businesses across the city.

The project has the formidable task of supporting the retrofits of approximately 20,000 private homes, and another 20,000 non-residential properties, before the mid-way point of the 21st century. These will include Victorian terraces, modern shopping centres, and the medieval college buildings of the 804-year-old Cambridge University.

The aim is to make a decisive contribution to the UK’s carbon reduction target of 80 per cent by 2050 in a single move focused on the energy-efficiency of buildings. In the process, the project will also seek to make Cambridge the first city to hit that national objective.

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·         Business Planning for Success 23 July

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·         And… What Do You Do? (How to Talk About Your Business) 30 July

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Booking details for all the master classes: http://innovationfarm.eventbrite.co.uk/

 is a landmark community-scale energy efficiency initiative to retrofit buildings and help make the Cambridge area the first to reach national carbon reduction targets.

Through our network of businesses, estate firms, building owners, local authorities, financiers, academics, national government, contractors and tenants, we bring together the entire community to deliver retrofits. Our measure of success is reducing carbon emissions, which we monitor year-on-year to compare aspirations against reality. And we achieve this while lowering energy costs, increasing property values, providing business opportunities, boosting the local economy and creating warmer homes. The secret: aggregating demand, delivery and finance, and coordinating retrofits with longer term refurbishments of properties.

We have a practical action plan from now to 2050 developed by key local public and private sector organisations. With targets and timelines agreed, we act as an "honest broker" working on behalf of the community to ensure targets are hit and community interests are served.

You can view the full Cambridge Retrofit brochure by clicking here.

David Ball Group PLC is a research-led company specialising in developing and manufacturing specialist cementitious products for the construction and building industry and was announced as a Regional runner-up in the annual Shell Springboard Awards in Edinburgh this week. 

Run by Shell, the high profile programme aims to find the next big idea in low carbon enterprise and innovation by small and medium enterprises.

David Ball Group PLC saw off more than 120 companies to secure a place at the Edinburgh final of this year’s competition and impressed the judges with its cement-free concrete, Cemfree. 

Now in its eighth year, Shell Springboard has awarded over £2.25 million to 62 small businesses that have developed new ways of cutting CO2. According to the Confederation of British Industry, low carbon products and services are now worth more than £120 billion a year to the UK economy, 8% of the UK’s GDP.

Dr Martin Liska, Research and Development Manager at David Ball Group PLC said: “We are delighted at this award and recognition at the Shell Springboard Awards that Cemfree is acknowledged as an innovative and viable solution to reducing the carbon legacy of the world’s most widely used construction material.”

Angus Gillespie, Vice President for CO2 at Shell added: “Shell Springboard celebrates the inventiveness of small companies in the face of big challenges from climate change and the rising demand for energy. David Ball Group PLC embodies this idea to the core. I congratulate them on their success and wish them the best of luck.”