We are committed to developing a secure, affordable and sustainable energy supply and using energy from renewable sources. This is set out in the West Sussex Energy Strategy.
The County Council generates renewable energy from its land and buildings to reduce energy costs in support of its pledge to try to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2030.
During the 2022/23 financial year our solar panels generated almost 17,000 MWh of clean electricity which, when sold to the grid, earned significant revenue to offset the County Council’s own energy costs.
Tangmere solar farm
This opened in 2015 on the site of the former Tangmere Airfield. The 18,000 solar panels at the 5MW solar farm generate enough zero carbon electricity to power 1,500 homes.
The revenue earned from electricity sales and feed-in-tariffs has already paid back the capital cost of the solar farm.
Westhampnett solar farm
Opened in 2018, this site is the first publicly owned solar farm to be developed with large, on-site batteries.
The batteries are used to store surplus energy generated by the 26,000 panels at the 7.4MW solar farm. They supply electricity to the grid when it’s needed.
The solar farm is built on a former landfill site that had no alternative use due to the presence of methane gas.
Solar schools
We have installed solar panels on 80 schools to help them reduce their energy costs and their impact on the environment.
The systems range in size from 15 to 250 kilowatts and have a total combined generation capacity equivalent to Tangmere solar farm.
This is set to increase as we deliver the next phase of solar and battery installations through the Solar PV & Battery Storage Programme for schools and council buildings.
Halewick Lane
We are developing a former waste sit at Halewick Lane, Sompting, into a large energy storage facility where grid-scale batteries will store electricity and supply it when it’s needed.
Building energy storage capacity will help us to integrate more renewable energy generators into our energy supply and maintain the frequency of the electricity grid when solar and wind farms are not generating.
Local Energy Communities
We are helping business and residential communities to generate, store and share clean energy by establishing Local Energy Communities (LECs) in the county.
Re-Energise Manor Royal, a LEC serving one of the southeast’s largest business districts near Gatwick Airport, is an award-winning community led and operated by the businesses there. It’s developing new renewable energy projects, including solar PV and storage. We’re also supporting a residential community to develop a similar model.
For residents that want to install their own solar panels and battery systems at home, we have our Solar Together Sussex scheme. Since 2020, this has installed more than 2,500 systems across Sussex with a combined 11MW generation capacity.