Ambitiousplansrevealedforsolarfarm

AMBITIOUS proposals have emerged to power a pharmaceutical plant with electricity from a solar farm on land a few miles away.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has lodged a notice with Angus Council for the scheme on more than 60 hectares of land north of Montrose basin.

The panels will harvest solar energy that can then be fed through a private grid connection across open land and through Montrose to GSK’s Cobden Street operation.

Reservations have already been aired over the loss of agricultural land and the potential impact of power lines on a planned link road between Montrose and the A90.

Scottish Power Renewables has brought forward the scheme for land near East Ballochy, Montrose, involving a 39.9MW solar energy system, with a 10MW battery storage.

Although the details for the proposal are limited at this stage, a draft map shows the power cable running through the Borrowfield area of Montrose before passing along the northern edge of the seafront links and golf courses to the GSK plant.

A public exhibition of the proposals is being planned at Hillside Village Hall on November 5 or 11.

Planning boss Kate Cowey said: “A number of residential properties are located adjacent to the private wire connection route between the solar site and the edge of Montrose, with a significant number of properties in Montrose located adjacent to the route as it crosses Montrose to the GSK facility.”