Good Energy, the Chippenham-based renewable energy company, has sold one of its undeveloped solar sites to Chinese PV panel manufacturer Trina Solar as it shifts its focus onto sites that are already generating power.
The 4.65MW solar site at Wrotham, near Maidstone, Kent, earn Good Energy a profit of between £430,000 and £480,000 – a figure it said was in line with its 2016 profit expectations.
In March Good Energy said government cuts to renewable energy support had forced it to slash spending on new schemes. It wrote off £575,000 of early-stage development costs on projects that it deemed no longer viable.
It said it would focus on its existing portfolio of renewable energy generation assets, particularly its pipeline of wind farms, while maintaining interest in future hydro plants.
Good Energy said proceeds from the Wrotham sale would be used for the ongoing development of its generation portfolio.
It has gained consent for three sites and is building four solar farms, increasing its generation capacity to 48MW.
The Wrotham site is the third it has sold to Trina Solar.
Good Energy founder and CEO Juliet Davenport OBE, pictured, said: “The site has been developed to enhance the ecology of the land and exemplify the long-term biodiversity benefits of solar parks. The site is well screened between two motorways and part of the land is a disused landfill zone.”
She said the firm’s outlook for its full-year financial performance remained in line with current market expectations for 2016.
Good Energy owns Delabole Wind Farm in Cornwall, the UK’s first commercial wind farm, and owns and operates Hampole Wind Farm, near Doncaster. It also owns and operates seven solar farms.