Thursday July 25, 2024
La Mare Wine Estate and Jersey Electricity Partner for Innovative Solar Installation
We are excited to announce our new partnership with Jersey Electricity (JE) to install a groundbreaking ground-mount solar installation. This innovative project supports tourism and explores which crops thrive best around solar panels right here in Jersey.
New Solar Panel
Our new solar site will be open to the public and visitors to La Mare Wine Estate. As part of our Self-Guided Walk, Islanders and tourists will have the unique opportunity to see and experience a ground-mount solar installation firsthand. We have also planted a beautiful wildflower meadow around the panels to encourage wildlife and pollinators to flourish, enhancing the natural beauty of our estate.
Sustainable Energy for La Mare:
The four solar panels will generate approximately 2,550 kWh of clean energy annually, helping to power the Wine Estate. This initiative bolsters our sustainability credentials and underscores the local provenance of the produce grown on our site.
Educational and Agricultural Benefits
We will utilise the solar array to provide stakeholders with a deeper understanding of ground-mount solar panels and their potential. This installation will demonstrate to prospective farming partners how solar panels can seamlessly integrate with agricultural practices.
Agrivoltaics, the use of land for both solar energy production and agriculture, is a promising field we are excited to explore. This solar array marks the first step in our agricultural partnership with JE, as we begin testing which crops fare best around ground-mounted solar arrays. As solar energy becomes an increasingly vital part of Jersey’s energy mix, our findings will be crucial.
Tim Crowley, our Managing Director commented; “For the past two decades, La Mare has been a leader in green business practices. This new partnership is a natural fit for us, and we are delighted to work with a passionate team that shares our commitment to a sustainable and greener Island. Agrivoltaics is an exciting new area for us, and we look forward to learning and developing new ideas with the JE team.”
Mark Preece, JE’s COO, commented: “This is an exciting time in Jersey’s renewable energy journey. The first phase of our partnership with La Mare Wine Estate offers numerous benefits. These four panels provide an opportunity to dispel myths about ground-mount solar—for example, that no light passes through and that farming and wildlife cannot coexist with the panels. We are eager to show future partners what a ground-mount site could look like and how it can function.”
“We thank Tim and the team at La Mare for joining us in this groundbreaking concept for local renewable energy production, agriculture, and tourism. This project is a fantastic opportunity for our community to engage with ground-mount solar and learn more about the innovative technology that will generate local energy for our community while introducing a new agricultural crop for our fields.”
Future Plans
JE is also advancing the construction of a 4MW ground-mount solar installation in St Clement and has achieved planning approval in principle for installations at Sorel in St John and La Rue d’Olive in St Mary. These solar sites will generate electricity to be exported to the grid for the benefit of all Islanders.
Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting project and how it continues to contribute to a sustainable future for Jersey!