Canadian Solar is a leading international renewable energy company, with worldwide operations. As part of a solar farm to support West Carclaze, a garden village just outside St Austell, Cornwall, Canadian Solar purchased the site and aimed to deliver the project in early 2017. 

The solar farm was situated on top of an old 10m deep China clay waste pit, and cable needed to be laid in land which was under the ownership of multiple parties, requiring permissions and assurances from a number of landowners. The site’s China clay ground meant that Utilligence were forced to use floating tracks and pathways to ensure that a safe installation was possible. It was unquestionably the most technically challenging project Utiligence had completed to date, thanks to its high ground location, with a challenging 1.3km cable route, rising from the low level WPD 132/33kV BSP station. There were also some challenging severe weather conditions to overcome to deliver the project on time. Finally, the waste pit needed capping off to ensure the site was fully safe. 

Utilligence designed a novel substation design with a dual meter breaker option that was approved by OFGEM and then WPD respectively. This design allowed a second solar park to utilise the substation at a later date and was connected just over a year since the completion of the first site works.  

West Carclaze was one of the first commercial UK sites with dual metering in the same location, which required a bespoke combined containerised solution that met the strict OFGEM regulations that were imposed. The site connected and was energised before the 2017 deadline.