A SOLAR energy farm in Winchfied is credited with helping to boost the county’s rating in a new league table of renewable power.

The area’s first solar farm has been producing power for up to 1,600 homes. It generates 5.8 megawatts of electricity, and was installed by PS Renewables on 30 acres of land between the M3 and the railway line at Oakland Farm in Taplins Farm Lane.

Hampshire is in eighth place in a new league table for renewables, compiled by the Green Alliance. It compares solar panels installed in counties across England and Wales. Cornwall, Devon and Wiltshire are top of the league.

On a visit to the local scheme last week, Winchfield Parish Council chairman, Andrew Renshaw, said: “This site was found after residents protested about an earlier potential site that would have been environmentally damaging.

“This site, on the other hand, is ideal and no one objected.”

Mr Renshaw added that the parish council looked forward to receiving payments of about £3,000 a year for the electricity generated by the project. The income will be treated as a community benefit, and should last for at least ten years.

“We will be putting this money into a special fund for appropriate projects such as improving footpaths and access to the countryside.”

Work will start soon to build a second solar farm on land at Hungerford Farm, near the Edenbrook country park. It will occupy 32 acres and should generate five megawatts.

The fate of a third solar energy project remains in doubt. The site at Beggars Corner – formerly a landfill to the west of Winchfield – was rejected by Hart District Council planners. An appeal has been lodged, and a decision by the planning inspectorate is expected soon.

Mr Renshaw said: “This third scheme was also supported by the parish council and –­ if approved – it will mean Winchfield leads the way as the greenest parish in Hart.”

The title of being number one in solar energy may have faded away over the years for Hampshire, but the directors of our local schemes remain keen on regaining it.

The new league table was welcomed by Geoff French, chairman of the Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership. “The use of renewable energy – particularly solar power – is rapidly gaining momentum, and we are proud that Hampshire is at the forefront of this movement.

“Clearly there is still plenty of work to do to reach national targets around renewable energy use, but the Enterprise M3 LEP is committed to supporting this work through promoting sustainable technologies and balancing economic growth with a well-protected environment.”

The Green Alliance reckons renewable technologies are becoming mainstream. It claims green energy accounted for a quarter of the UK’s power in 2015.

Government statistics show renewables are popular, with support from 78 percent of the public, and only four per cent against.

The renewables industry is already an important source of jobs. Supporters say it creates 10,000 altogether in the South East, including more than 3,000 in the solar sector alone.

Around 120,000 people employed in renewables across England and Wales – 30,700 of them in solar.

Martin Heath, director of Hampshire’s Renewable Energy Co-operative, said: “Hampshire is one of the country’s sunniest areas. We are also one of the highest per capita users of electricity as well, so we need to make the most of the tremendous potential in Hampshire for more renewable energy.

“We have some of Europe’s best tidal resources in the Solent and wonderfully windy areas off our coast. Hampshire is England’s most wooded county, so we have lots of biomass as well.

“In fact Hampshire is blessed with some of best renewable resources in the UK. We should be aiming to be number one.”