In August 2023, the UK Government provided confirmation that solar farms are the most cost-effective way to generate electricity in the UK. Given that the Isle of Man can be one of the sunniest places in the British and Irish Isles, we are confident that the UK Government’s findings will be mirrored in the Isle of Man.
However, as noted by Solar UK Energy, the true levelised costs of solar energy are likely to be even lower, as the reports disregard the benefits of sharing grid connections with battery energy storage systems, an increasingly common aspect of solar farms.
Currently, there is a planning application in the Isle of Man for a 27MW solar farm which includes a 24MW battery (further improving the cost projection of the solar farm as indicated above). The planning application is filed by a private enterprise in the Peel Group.
Recognising the urgent need to decarbonise the Isle of Man energy system, that private enerprise plays an important role in those decarbonisation efforts, and that important legislation and regulation already calls for and compels the same, in August 2023 (incorrectly stated as 2022 in the letter due to a typographical error) the Isle of Man Green Party wrote to the Planning and Building Control Directorate to indicate our support for the application and to set out the grounds for the same.
You can follow the progress of the planning application HERE (using application number 23/00055/B).