This is the first utility scale solar farm application in Winchester District prepared since the publication of the government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan last December. Although only 10MW in size, the planning documents include some features not seen in previous local applications:
- the Planning Statement draws attention to the government’s strategy for managing the “queue” of grid connection agreements. Plans must be developed and progress quickly to avoid relegation in the queue.
- there are multiple citations of recent planning appeal outcomes that are supportive of opinions expressed in the application
- there is a Supply Chain Report which sets out “to state with high confidence that there is no forced labour within the production of our photovoltaic modules.”
- there is a dedicated Site Selection Report. Omission of full consideration of alternative sites delayed the 2024 approval of a nearby site in Hursley.
- Battery energy storage is included, as it should be for any solar farm. However, previous plans in our District have prompted official consultee bodies to impose conditions which led to the developers withdrawing the battery component in every case. The Glebe Farm application has taken more trouble, including the provision of a water tank to aid fire services. It’s time for the battery industry to provide expert support to ensure approval of installations of their kit.
Another interesting feature of this application is the proximity of the site to other solar farms. This is likely to raise the question of cumulative development of renewable energy, not previously addressed in our District. In addition to the two adjacent sites in the illustration below, there is a further small 3MW solar farm, just off the map to the east. As this is separated by the busy B2177, the cumulative thread is arguably broken.
My response to the plans suggests that cumulative concerns are diminished on grounds that the aggregate size of these small installations is within the scale of individual solar farms approved elsewhere in the District. On my first visit to the Locks Farm site some years ago I recall wondering why the application had not been more ambitious, given the suitability of surrounding fields.
The reason of course is the fragmented pattern of ownership. And a reminder of the importance of the solar option for small farmers. Where some local residents may interpret the plans as sprawl of unwelcome development, others will welcome the financial underpinning of longstanding family farms that might otherwise not survive troubled times for the sector.
Here is a copy of my comments submitted in response to the plans:
I support the application. Sites such as this with a grid connection agreement are earmarked for priority in the government’s Clean Power 2030 Plan. Proposals for managing the connection queue approved by Ofgem validate the case made in Ethical Power’s Planning Statement to the effect that they must “use it or lose it.”
Perhaps more relevant from a local perspective, this is a relatively small solar farm with effective natural screening already well established. The footpath to the east of the site is little used and emerges at both ends on to busy roads with no facility for pedestrians.
Co-location of battery energy storage with solar farms is essential to effective management of the electricity grid and is a clear expectation within Clean Power 2030. Winchester District has a zero track record for this combination and Glebe Farm offers an opportunity to put this right. The plans address safety issues in greater depth than previous local applications and all parties should work together to make co-location possible. As the solar farm is small, the battery system is also modest in scale.
Whilst there are three other solar farms (existing and approved) within this vicinity of Bishop’s Waltham, I suggest that the cumulative description is applicable to number rather than scale. Each of these developments is well below average size and, according to the SSEN Embedded Capacity Register, the combined maximum export capacity totalling 36 megawatts is less than the single solar farm in Southwick.
More important, the eventual output of the four installations may not be sufficient to match the consumption of electricity in Bishop’s Waltham. Whilst an exact figure for consumption is difficult to compile, the trend is undoubtedly upward, as new housing developments are completed and as the transition to electric heating and transport continues.
Whilst on this topic, it should not be forgotten that clean power generation in Winchester District remains just over 20% of its consumption. The City Council’s commitment to carbon neutrality will remain in question until this figure is very significantly improved.
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Search for Ref 25/01050/FUL on the Winchester City Council Planning Portal for all documents