An electric vehicle charging hub with a 15MW solar farm has been given the green light for development by Dorset Council.
The Blandford Hill Eco Hub will accommodate nineteen electric vehicles at the same time, with 6 ultra-rapid (up to 350kW) chargers and 6 rapid (43-100kW) charging points. It will also have Tesla Superchargers.
Rather than rely solely on the grid, the charging hub, from Naturalis, will have a 15MW solar farm set across four farmer’s fields. The solar panels will be state-of-the-art, optimised to capture as much energy as possible.
The solar panels will feed an energy storage system, a giant battery that supplies the chargers. The total capacity of the system will be 18MW, a huge number that makes it one of the largest of its kind in the UK.
Excitingly, the hub will give drivers a way to charge with 100% renewable energy generated from solar. The hub will also connect to the grid, with supplementary power available for peak demand.
At £10 million, the Blandford Hill Eco Hub won’t come cheap. Naturalis Energy Developments, the company behind it, is a joint venture between the REG Power Management group and Falck Renewables. The hub will be located off the A345 and is due to open in late 2022.
Source: Solar Power Portal
