Associated British Ports (ABP) has submitted a planning application for the UK’s largest floating solar project, the Barrow EnergyDock.

Based in Cavendish Dock, the Barrow EnergyDock floating solar project will be the largest of its kind in the UK, with energy intended for Barrow’s advanced engineering sector. The solar array will have a generating capacity in the region of up to 40MW.

The solar panels will be mounted on floating pontoons fixed at an optimum angle for solar generation, with the pontoons secured to the bottom of the dock by an anchoring system. The proposed array would cover around one-third of the available water area in the dock and would be made up of circa 47,000 panels. Current leisure activities in the dock will continue and there may be scope for further leisure use in the future.

The approach of deploying floating solar in Cavendish Dock, rather than ground-mount solar, will provide renewable energy whilst preserving port land for operational and manufacturing uses, that have the potential to support jobs and the wider economy.

As part of the development process ABP commissioned Green Cat Renewables, an environmental and engineering consultancy, to help develop and deliver the planning application elements of the project. Two public consultation events were held in the autumn of last year to provide an opportunity for the local community to ask questions and give their views on the scheme.

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