The Defence Infrastructure Organisation, working with Custom Solar on behalf of the British Army, held a ground-breaking ceremony for a new solar array.
The £3.9 million project was awarded to Custom Solar, which is part of Mitie Power & Grid, as part of the Army's Project Prometheus. This has already seen solar installations at other Army sites including Weeton Barracks and Larkhill Garrison and aims to contribute to the Ministry of Defence's (MOD) Net Zero targets.
The ground-breaking ceremony was held ahead of the start of construction for the new ground-mounted array, which will consist of more than 5,000 panels covering over 30,000m2. This will generate 2.2MWp of renewable electricity annually, which is forecast to meet approximately one third of the energy needs for Bassingbourn Barracks.
Warren Webster, DIO Major Programmes and Projects Programme Director - Army, said:
It's fantastic to see the start of work on another solar array under Project Prometheus. The project is supplying renewable energy to a number of British Army sites, contributing to the Ministry of Defence's Net Zero targets. This new array at Bassingbourn Barracks is expected to meet one third of the site's annual electricity needs, marking another stage in our progress towards our goals.
Lieutenant Colonel Ed Brooks, Army Sustainability, Efficiency and Exploitation (SEE) Team Energy Lead, said:
We are delighted to see work getting underway on a new solar installation at Bassingbourn Barracks.
By increasing the supply of renewable energy across Army sites, we are building a more sustainable estate that will strengthen our energy resilience and support operational capability, while protecting the environments where our people live, work and train.
Mark Caksey, Managing Director, Mitie Projects, said:
Breaking ground at Bassingbourn Barracks builds on our long‑standing relationship with both the Defence Infrastructure Organisation and the Ministry of Defence, and reflects the confidence placed in Mitie to continue delivering solar energy projects across the defence estate.
Following the successful delivery of the solar installation at Weeton Barracks, we're pleased to be working with the DIO again to deliver a project that strengthens on‑site energy resilience and supports wider decarbonisation objectives.
