Green Energy International (GEI) are aiming to build the 170 acre Jockstown Solar Farm next year.
It will feature up to 2710 ‘tables of modules’ totalling 108,400 solar panels, and they will generate 35MW of electricity, enough to power approximately 10,000 homes.
The farm will be operational for at least 25 years and the electricity will feed into the substation at nearby Chapelcross.
The grassland site and the nature of solar farms means that grazing will be able to continue around the structures.
Explaining the benefits of the site, pictured, GEI director of planning Mathew Bayley said: “Jockstown Farm was selected due to its close proximity to the Chapelcross substation, and its relatively remote location and subsequent minimal visual intrusion on the landscape.
“This development will offer a fantastic opportunity to utilise poor agricultural land to generate renewable electricity while retaining the farm’s agricultural roots with sheep farming beneath the panels.”
The company say the solar farm will be fitted with the most up-to-date solar panel technology, including trackers which rotate with the movement of the sun, to maximise efficiency.
At the end of its life the site would be decommissioned and deconstructed, returning to its former use.
More information about the scheme is also available on a new, dedicated website at www.jockstown.com.
