City of Wolverhampton Council has submitted a planning application for its first solar farm to be developed to power New Cross Hospital with renewable energy.

The city council has partnered with The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust to deliver clean, green electricity by developing a solar farm at the former Bowman’s Harbour site.

Subject to planning permission being granted and confirmation of funding it is hoped work could start on developing the solar farm in the New Year.

Bowman’s Harbour is an unused landfill site adjacent to an industrial estate located on Planetary Road and has been subject to anti-social behaviour and fly tipping.

The new solar farm will assist The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust in meeting their carbon reduction commitments by providing it with electricity from the array of solar panels.

The new development will turn the south facing wasteland into a productive solar farm, supplying 6.9MWp of life saving energy directly to New Cross Hospital. 

The tree line around the site will not be affected and will remain to improve security and maintain greenery. 

During the council’s climate change consultation, 82% of residents said they would welcome solar farms in Wolverhampton. 

Councillor Steve Evans, Cabinet Member for City Environment at City of Wolverhampton Council said: “This is a major milestone in this ambitious project and is great news for our city. 

“Since declaring our Climate Emergency in July 2019, the council has been supporting its partners towards making Wolverhampton zero carbon.

“I’m pleased to see the council supporting the local hospital in achieving its ambitions to reduce carbon emissions in the city.

“The new development will certainly have a positive impact in making Wolverhampton a greener city.”

David Loughton, Chief Executive at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust added: “As the largest employer in Wolverhampton, we take sustainability very seriously and are committed to continually working to reduce our carbon footprint.

“We have taken a number of steps to reduce and better manage our energy consumption and operate in a sustainable manner. 

“One of these steps is to look at using renewable energy so we are very pleased about this partnership.”