Site Profile
Status
In construction
Technology
Solar Power
Install Capacity
40.6MW
Ford Oaks Solar Park is a major new solar project near Exeter, delivering green growth and stronger energy security to East Devon. The development provides 40 MWp of solar generation, enough clean power for around 13,000 homes a year and saving approximately 6,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually across a 40-year operational life.
Ford Oaks brings genuinely new renewable capacity online, contributing directly to local and national climate targets, including the UK’s goal of reaching 70 GW of solar by 2035 and East Devon District Council’s commitment to become carbon neutral by 2040. Ground-mounted solar is one of the cheapest forms of electricity generation and can be deployed at scale, making projects like this central to the clean power transition.
By generating zero-carbon electricity at home, Ford Oaks reduces reliance on imported energy and helps guard against volatile prices, strengthening security of supply for the region and the national grid alike.
Beyond the clean power it generates, Ford Oaks is built to leave a lasting mark on the community that hosts it. From the local jobs and supply-chain activity created during construction, to a dedicated community fund focused on ensuring community value that endures well beyond the day it switches on.
The construction programme supports activity across civil works, electrical installation, construction management, ecology and ongoing operations, extending supply-chain value into the local area and supporting 20 jobs during construction.
Infinis is also providing more that £90,000 in a community fund, managed independently by Grantscape.
Ford Oaks is designed to leave the land richer than it found it, delivering around 121% biodiversity net gain through retained veteran trees, new native hedgerow and woodland, wildflower meadow and lightly grazed species-rich pasture beneath the panels. Bat boxes, bird boxes, a butterfly bank and habitat piles will support wildlife, while leaky dams along Ford Stream provide natural flood management across the project’s 40-year life.
40MWp
solar
~13000
homes powered
~6000
t CO₂e/year saved
~360
biodiversity net gain units (≈121% uplift)
+90000
community fund
20
supporting 20 jobs during cosntruction
Ford Oaks shows how solar projects can deliver practical benefits locally and nationally: new clean power, stronger energy security and lasting investment in the community that hosts it. Alongside its role in supporting the UK’s clean power transition, the project will leave a positive legacy through local funding, construction activity and significant biodiversity improvements.
Bruce Heppenstall
Chief Executive Officer
Bruce Heppenstall
Chief Executive Officer