Army Solar Array Opens at Larkhill Garrison in Boost to Defence Energy Resilience

Homeland July 24, 2026

British Army to launch defence’s first photovoltaic solar farm

A new 4,000-panel solar installation at Larkhill Garrison signals the growing scale of the MoD’s renewable energy programme across the defence estate – and the supply chain opportunities it is generating.

A new ground-mounted solar array has officially opened at Larkhill Garrison in Wiltshire, marking the latest milestone in the Army’s Project Prometheus programme to roll out renewable energy technology across suitable sites on the defence estate. Spanning 2.5 hectares and comprising more than 4,000 photovoltaic panels, the installation is expected to generate approximately 1.7 GWh of electricity annually – enough to power around 630 average UK homes – while offsetting an estimated 352 tonnes of CO2 equivalent each year.

The project, delivered by Aspire Defence Services on behalf of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation and funded through Project Prometheus, goes beyond a single site installation. Surplus electricity generated at Larkhill will be redistributed via a private wire network to neighbouring camps at Bulford, Tidworth and Perham Down, creating a connected renewable energy infrastructure across the Salisbury Plain garrison cluster. This year alone, the combination of the new ground-mounted array and four additional rooftop installations enabled Larkhill to achieve regular energy self-sufficiency for 73 days during peak daylight hours and export surplus capacity to Bulford Camp – a practical demonstration of what scalable, estate-wide energy investment can deliver operationally.

The MoD’s motivation is explicitly dual: sustainability and resilience. As Director of Energy, Environment and Infrastructure James Clare noted, increased renewable capacity reduces costs, enhances estate resilience and supports a more operationally effective defence infrastructure. Major General AJ Smith, the Army’s Sustainability Champion, framed it similarly – investment in practical, scalable renewable energy builds an estate better able to support operational capability. The language of resilience rather than simply environmental compliance reflects a broader shift in how defence approaches energy infrastructure, with energy security increasingly recognised as an operational enabler rather than a facilities management consideration.

Project Prometheus is an ongoing programme, with solar technology continuing to be deployed across further Army sites. The Larkhill installation represents one element of a wider rolling programme that is generating sustained demand for renewable energy design, installation and through-life management capabilities across the defence estate.

For the UK defence supply chain

The Larkhill solar array is a tangible example of how the MoD’s sustainability agenda is creating a practical and growing pipeline of infrastructure and energy work across the defence estate. Project Prometheus continues to expand, and the private wire network model deployed here – connecting multiple garrison sites through shared renewable generation – points to increasingly sophisticated energy infrastructure requirements as the programme scales. For businesses operating in construction, energy, facilities management and sustainable infrastructure, the defence estate represents a long-term and substantive market. Relevant capability areas include:

Ground-mounted and rooftop solar design, supply and installation
Private wire network infrastructure and energy distribution
Defence estate energy management and monitoring systems
Carbon reduction planning and net zero compliance for defence sites
Sustainable construction and green infrastructure on military estates
Biodiversity and environmental management on defence land
Through-life maintenance and performance management of renewable assets
Energy resilience consultancy and storage solutions for critical infrastructure

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