Work starts on solar farm at disused quarry site

A farm of 4,000 solar panels is being built on the site of a disused quarry in Bedfordshire between now and October

The first solar panels have been installed on disused quarry land as part of a development that will eventually provide enough power for 600 homes.

They are among 4,000 ground-mounted panels that will make up a new solar farm at Checkley Wood Farm, near Hockliffe in Bedfordshire.

They are being put in place next to two wind turbines by local renewable energy firm, AW Energy.

The Labour MP for Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard, Alex Mayer, said: "I am really proud that alongside our two wind turbines we have now got another solar array being built to create clean power for local people."

Work on the farm is due to be finished in October, creating three megawatts of electricity - enough to power 50,000 electric cars for a year.

Labour MP Alex Mayer said it made sense to harness renewable energy in Bedfordshire

"We are in the middle of a climate emergency and people have seen energy bills soar, partly because President Putin decided to invade Ukraine," Mayer added.

"We cannot be at the mercy of dictators for our energy and we have renewable energy in Bedfordshire, so surely we want to harness that for ourselves."

When the panels are in place, the site will then be landscaped with wildflower meadows to attract bees and butterflies, while sheep will graze around the panels.

Mayer said the project had come to fruition quickly thanks to government changes, announced in May, that meant red tape had been slashed for energy projects under five megawatts.

She said this now meant people were not "stuck waiting in queues to connect up their solar panels and wind turbines".

AW Energy managing director John Fairlie said the power would be used for homes in Bedfordshire

John Fairlie, managing director of Leighton Buzzard-based AW Energy, confirmed the power generated would be used for homes in Bedfordshire.

He called the project unique because it was "integrating the panels with onshore wind power from the large turbines on site".

"On days when the wind drops and we have sunshine we will be generating as much power as we can get through our grid connection," he said.

And then - in the evenings - "when energy levels drop from the sun we pick that up with the wind", he added.

He said his firm had consent for another site to the south of Leighton Buzzard near the A505 which would have direct access for people charging their cars, but also be close to a large housing development.

Mr Fairlie told the BBC his company was working on "clean power communities where we have several hundred new houses powered by on-site wind and solar providing them with all their heat and electric vehicle needs".

He said he saw this as "the future for renewable power", adding that they had applications for projects along those lines in Buckinghamshire and Central Bedfordshire.