The government has granted development consent for a 800MW solar farm with battery storage co-located.
The Springwell Solar Farm in North Kesteven, Lincolnshire, is set to be the largest solar farm in the UK. The proposals are on land predominantly owned by Blankney Estates. The developer said the Springwell site totals around 1,280Ha. Of this, approximately 48% would be used for above ground development like the solar panels, battery storage and Springwell Substation (. The remaining land will be used to provide recreational, landscaping and ecological areas, with a significant proportion able to be used for agricultural production during operation.
The decision letter said that the solar farm would use 541.2Ha of so-called ‘Best and Most Valuable’ agricultural land in Lincolnshire and calculated that this equated to 0.13% of the BMV land in the county. Cumulatively with other solar farm projects located in Lincolnshire or on or close to the Nottinghamshire border, 2.02% of BMV land in Lincolnshire would be affected, the decision letter said (including the proposed Leoda Solar Farm project), noting that the majority of the land would only be affected temporarily (ie over the 40 year lifetime of the project). In the case of Springwell 98Ha would be permanently lost.
Energy Minister Michael Shanks said: “We are driving further and faster for clean homegrown power that we control to protect the British people and bring down bills for good. It is crucial we learn the lessons of the conflict in the Middle East – solar is one of the cheapest forms of power available and is how we get off the rollercoaster of international fossil fuel markets and secure our own energy independence.”