Sunderland Solar Farm

Generating up to 40 MW of renewable energy that will power 12,000 homes, Cundall is assisting Sunderland AFC with the development of Academy of Light, solar farm in Sunderland. This is a part of their ambitious plan to be the first club in the UK to achieve net zero emissions by 2040 to assist with the transition to a low carbon environment.

We have been involved at a multi-disciplinary level throughout the process, with our civil engineering team producing the indicative layout and the electrical team producing the electrical design. Our team was also heavily involved in the assessment process of the project, for example, the geotechnical team provided advice on land contamination. Overall, we supported the project by providing a sustainability assessment, glint and glare assessment, transportation surveys, EIA surveys, heritage surveys, and 3D modelling.

Rachel Thompson, senior planning consultant said "It has been really interesting to work on this renewable energy project. The proposed solar farm is in the green belt therefore any development must be justified robustly. The project has seen significant interest from local people and the public consultation events which we hosted were very well attended, which helped the whole project team to propose a suitable design."