Image: Curtis Creative.
Associated British Ports (ABP) has unveiled a new solar PV installation at the Port of Hull that has doubled ABP Humber Ports’ renewable energy generation.
The 6.5MW installation has been split across several roofs on the site, with ABP claiming it to be the UK’s largest commercial rooftop solar array. Lightsource BP’s 5MW installation on the roof of Bentley Motor’s factory in Crewe is installed on a single rooftop compared with ABP’s split installation.
The installation at the Port of Hull cost £6.8 million, with Custom Solar beginning the installation in October 2019 and completing it in August 2020.
It consists of 21,000 solar panels, powered by 49 of FIMER’s PVS-100-TL 100kW inverters and 3 PVS-50-TL 50kW inverters. Filippo Carzaniga, chairman of FIMER, described the project as "ground-breaking", adding that it "demonstrates how powerful solar power can be and, we are proud to have worked closely with ABP and Custom Solar to make this vision a reality".
Renewable energy projects are now attached to 17 of ABP’s 21 ports, with Simon Bird, director at ABP Humber, stating that the Port of Hull scheme helps “to secure ABP’s energy supply, making great commercial and environmental sense”.
ABP launched its core strategy in January 2020, outlining its commitment to accelerating green energy generation and storage for its port operations, as well as for new manufacturing sites in their ports
Solar arrays have been installed on the Ports of Immingham, Goole and Hull, with Grimsby the next on the agenda. Bird said Grimsby is to be ABP’s focus due to the port being “home to the growing offshore wind sector”.