Cheshire East energises first solar farm in Crewe
30 September 2024
Cheshire East Council is celebrating a key milestone towards becoming a carbon neutral council by 2027, as its first solar farm has now started to provide green electricity to both the council’s composting plant and the wider grid in Crewe.
The 4.1MW solar farm – enough to power about 1,200 houses – at Leighton Grange is the latest in a wide range of projects to complete as the council examines every aspect of its operations to reduce, eliminate or offset carbon.
T
he solar farm will not only provide renewable energy to power the council’s state-of-the-art composting plant – operated by Wastewise, an FCC Environment company – but it will also put green energy back into the national grid, helping to offset a significant amount of the council’s carbon emissions.
Cheshire East has a target of achieving carbon neutrality as an organisation by 2027 and as a borough by 2045. Both these targets are more ambitious than the national ones set, and the council is on track to achieve them.
Councillor Mick Warren, chair of Cheshire East Council’s environment and communities committee, said: “This is a proud moment and an important step towards realising our 2027 target.
“We are doing fantastic work already in terms of initiatives such as LED lighting including streetlighting, decarbonising our buildings and the wider installation of solar panels across our buildings to name but a few, but successful projects like this one are vital to offset emissions and help us reach our target.”
Bob Wilkes, managing director at Wastewise, said: “We’re proud to work alongside Cheshire East Council on this project, which demonstrates how essential services like waste management can directly contribute to a more sustainable future. By integrating renewable energy into our operations, we’re advancing both environmental goals and operational efficiency, setting a new standard for responsible service delivery.”
The council is also proud to be highly ranked in terms of new woodland established over the four years of the Trees for Climate Programme. A 15ha (the equivalent of 21 football pitches) woodland planting scheme was recently completed in Long Lane in Peover with 36ha of additional planting sites being prepared for the start of the coming planting season this autumn.
Cllr Sam Corcoran, Cheshire East Council’s environment and climate change member champion, said: “This news is welcome recognition for the hard work of officers in our carbon team. Tree-planting is a vital part of our work in offsetting emissions, and the latest round of planting shows that our commitment to continue this work with The Mersey Forest is strong.”
The council’s target is to plant 120 hectares of trees by 2027 in a range of green spaces, parks and schools across the borough – this is the equivalent of nearly 170 football pitches. This work is being carried out in partnership with Cheshire Wildlife Trust in addition to the significant input from The Mersey Forest.
The council is also well into phase two of its group buying energy initiative Solar Together and will be running two collaborative events to promote the campaign in October.
These take place at Congleton Town Hall on Monday 7 October and Sandbach Town Hall on Wednesday 16 October. Both events run from 7-8.30pm.If you would like to attend either event, please email: carbonneutral@cheshireeast.gov.uk providing your name and the event you would like to attend.