Viverdon Down Solar

Project Type: Solar
Country: England
Location: Cornwall

Planned
Consented
In Construction
Operational

Project overview

We are developing our proposals for a solar project located in east Cornwall, between the town of Callington to the northwest and the village of St Mellion to the southeast.

We believe this project offers significant environmental and community benefits. Throughout the development of the project, we are committed to keeping stakeholders, local neighbours, and the wider community well-informed, while also ensuring there are opportunities to share your thoughts on the plans as they evolve.

The project would support the UK’s transition to a net-zero economy by reducing reliance on fossil fuels and meeting growing electricity demand. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan recently outlined a target to more than double the UK’s solar generation capacity by 2030, which this project will help contribute towards.

Our plans are still in the early stages but we are keen to get feedback on our proposals. We enjoyed speaking to many members of the local community at our two in person consultation events but there is still time to share your feedback. Please read on and find the consultation materials within the document section towards the bottom of the page.

The site

The map on the right shows an outline of the entire site that we are considering for the solar project.

Our overall aim is to design a layout that has the least impact visually, and on the environment, whilst optimising renewable energy generation and enhancing biodiversity on site.

The site has been identified as suitable for this project due its proximity to a grid connection at Landulph substation, the existing vegetation in place and the high solar irradiation levels.

The project will be contained within the 126-hectares available for development, though the size of the project will indeed be smaller than that of the redline boundary provided, approximately 80 hectares.

A proportion of the land between and around the solar panels will remain free of development allowing us to enhance existing habitats and create new ones. Sheep will also be able to graze on the land.

Enhancing biodiversity

Research is increasingly showing that renewables, such as solar, can have a positive impact on nature. Through the Viverdon Down solar project, we will be working to do exactly this and believe we can provide a significant amount of biodiversity net gain, helping to create new habitats and improving the local environment.

We will retain existing hedgerows and enhance it where needed. Tree and flower planting will also form part of our plans.

We are working with an ecologist to investigate additional steps we could take and will include further information on these during the consultation stage.

For more information on how renewables are becoming important habitats for wildlife, please visit: https://solarenergyuk.org/resource/solar-habitat-2025/

Community benefits

To support the community closest to the site, a dedicated community fund will be set up to spend on local initiatives. The annual fund will be in place for the operational lifetime of the site.

Our existing community funds have supported a huge variety of local projects over the years, from education and skills to summer programmes for children and renovation projects.

Community funds are managed by an external body – such as Cornwall Community Foundation – but delivered in partnership with the community. Local people are able to advise on the fund strategy and spend, so they can prioritise issues that are important to the local area.

Next steps – share your feedback

We are committed to engaging with residents and stakeholders throughout the development stage to understand how the local community feel about our proposals. As such we are running a consultation throughout July.

Thank you to those members of the local community who came out to our consultation events to speak to the team. We asked those in attendance to help us choose a name for the project and the overwhelming favourite was Viverdon Down Solar.

If you were unable to join us in person at our recent consultation events, there is still time to share your feedback. We have uploaded the consultation banners to the project documents section below. Please review these and let us know your thoughts at https://forms.office.com/e/5NryHGBu05.

If you have any questions please get in touch at dupath_spring@edf-re.uk