Pioneering plans for a new renewable power energy centre at Langarth Garden Village are given the go ahead

The decision of the Council’s Strategic Planning Committee to grant
permission for a new renewable power energy centre to provide low-cost
green power for residents is a significant milestone for the Cornwall
Council-led Langarth Garden Village scheme.
The new renewable power energy centre, which will play a key role in
delivering the Council’s climate change strategy, could ultimately see
around 20 megawatts of green energy generated at Langarth as part
of the projects developing energy strategy to provide low-cost green power
for residents.

The Energy Centre will provide a central hub for electrical power to the site,
bringing together on-site and off-site renewable energy. It will be connected
to the grid, giving both security of supply and allowing excess generation to
be exported.

At the core of the Energy Centre is a new primary substation with a capacity
of 24 MVA. Provision is also made for battery storage, which will maximise
the use of renewable energy on site for the benefits of residents and local
businesses. A new dedicated circuit to the main substation
at Shortlanesend will also relieve pressure on the local grid.

Heat pump technology, higher levels of insulation and solar panels will be
used to power and heat homes, offices and other
buildings at Langarth Garden Village, with electric vehicle charging points
provided for every home. Together these measures will deliver net zero
carbon homes with low running costs for residents, as well generating an
income from the sale of surplus power back to the grid.

In an addition to the original scheme, the energy centre will also be used to
support the development of the new £100m Women and Children’s hospital
building, and other planned improvements on the Royal Cornwall hospital
site.

Explaining that without the new infrastructure there had been the potential
for a delay to the major building programme underway on the Treliske site,
RCHT’s Chief Executive Kate Shields said the additional capacity provided by
the Langarth energy centre would help ensure that the Trust’s ambitious
plans are delivered on time.

“We said at the start of the project that we wanted to create a new way of
living at Langarth,” said Tim Dwelly, Cornwall Council’s Cabinet Member for
Planning and the Economy.
“This means designing a sustainable new community that is adaptable,
resilient and fit for future living.

“We have worked closely with adjacent landowners and stakeholders in the
planning process. By ensuring a greater use of renewable energy created
and used on site and increasing capacity to support the future use of
electric vehicles, the new energy centre will play a key role in
helping Langarth, and the Council, to move away from carbon dependency.

“The creation of the new energy centre will not just benefit future residents
at Langarth, however.

“I am particularly pleased that the project will support the development of
the hospital site, as well as reinforcing the supply of power to Truro, and
look forward to seeing these ideas included in other new housing sites
across Cornwall.”

Located next to the park and ride, the centre will include a transformer
compound to house the electricity substation together with a bespoke
battery storage area which will provide storage for green energy produced
on the site for residents.

Buildings and compounds will be surrounded by a combination of stone
gabion walls and planted green walls. In keeping with the project’s green
Garden Village ethos, wild flowers and trees will be planted around the site
to enhance biodiversity and provide a variety of natural landscape
features.

A new pedestrian footpath will connect the existing quiet lane to the park
and ride and there will also be a viewing platform looking north over the
energy centre, with descriptive maps of the garden village. Information
boards and educational opportunities will be provided to describe the role
of the centre and help people understand how future communities will be
powered.

The project team is also investigating the possibility of providing solar
panels on car ports on the proposed park and ride extension, as well as on
other buildings and offices across the site, and exploring the potential of
district heating using geothermal energy as a renewable source of heat.