A vast new 800MW Solar Farm in Lincolnshire, known as East Lincolnshire Solar, appeared on the TEC Register last night and follows on from a similarly large 600MW scheme in East Yorkshire.
And yet in FES2024 the assumption is that much solar will be “micro”, below 1 MW, connecting at multiple voltages to make best use of existing grid capacity
Allocating 800 MW of transmission capacity to something that will, on average, only produce 80 MW, and leave 90% of the capacity wasted for most of the year just strikes me as daft
I could not agree more. Our team did some analysis locally and 95% of solar projects currently on the TEC Register in Suffolk are over 259MW. Even with government proposals to lift the NSIP threshold to 150MW from 50MW (I assume an attempt to avoid clustering of TCPA applications), I can’t see it encouraging smaller schemes. Everything seems to point to scale and the trend is larger.
From the developers point of view, the bigger the better, but for grid utilisation the smaller the better, so somewhere is an optimum which may well be 1 MW
From a visual impact in the countryside I’d far rather see many small systems, maybe following the distribution lines, so there is a greater chance of use local to generation and not “bothering” the transmission system
Thanks, RIchard (from a lot of people and FB groups in Lincolnshire).
Earlier this month a submission to the Planning Inspectorate (PINs) was published regarding the proposed route of the Immingham to Theddlethorpe CCS (carbon capture) pipeline. It was from a farm based at Alvingham, about 10 miles from the two proposed new substations at Alford / Bilsby as part of the Gy2W project. In it, the farm suggested moving the route of the pipeline because:
"The current route crosses an unconstrained area of land which has significant potential for renewable energy generation. By amending the route so as to avoid the area of greatest potential, the pipeline will not only be supporting the UK’s strategy to decarbonise key industrial areas but also ensure it does not restrict the UK Government’s mission of making the UK a clean energy superpower. We have attached a plan indicating an alternative route which seeks to avoid the ‘best’ area for renewable energy development in this area."
And below, on the same theme, is another submission to PINs regarding the same project.
"We wish to submit a closing statement on behalf of our client" (a farm based 15 miles from Alford but with land nearer than there).
"We initially informed the Viking CCS project back in October 2022 that our client's land is subject to an option agreement for a large scale solar development. We have revisited this with the scheme numerous times throughout both the statutory consultation phase and the DCO examination period.
Having discussed the matter with the solar developers this week, it has been brought to our attention that no contact what so ever has been made. It is imperative that Viking CCS engages with the solar developers as a matter of urgency to ensure that the two projects can co-exist with minimal impact on the solar development."
And yet in FES2024 the assumption is that much solar will be “micro”, below 1 MW, connecting at multiple voltages to make best use of existing grid capacity
Allocating 800 MW of transmission capacity to something that will, on average, only produce 80 MW, and leave 90% of the capacity wasted for most of the year just strikes me as daft
I could not agree more. Our team did some analysis locally and 95% of solar projects currently on the TEC Register in Suffolk are over 259MW. Even with government proposals to lift the NSIP threshold to 150MW from 50MW (I assume an attempt to avoid clustering of TCPA applications), I can’t see it encouraging smaller schemes. Everything seems to point to scale and the trend is larger.
From the developers point of view, the bigger the better, but for grid utilisation the smaller the better, so somewhere is an optimum which may well be 1 MW
From a visual impact in the countryside I’d far rather see many small systems, maybe following the distribution lines, so there is a greater chance of use local to generation and not “bothering” the transmission system
Thanks, RIchard (from a lot of people and FB groups in Lincolnshire).
Earlier this month a submission to the Planning Inspectorate (PINs) was published regarding the proposed route of the Immingham to Theddlethorpe CCS (carbon capture) pipeline. It was from a farm based at Alvingham, about 10 miles from the two proposed new substations at Alford / Bilsby as part of the Gy2W project. In it, the farm suggested moving the route of the pipeline because:
"The current route crosses an unconstrained area of land which has significant potential for renewable energy generation. By amending the route so as to avoid the area of greatest potential, the pipeline will not only be supporting the UK’s strategy to decarbonise key industrial areas but also ensure it does not restrict the UK Government’s mission of making the UK a clean energy superpower. We have attached a plan indicating an alternative route which seeks to avoid the ‘best’ area for renewable energy development in this area."
And below, on the same theme, is another submission to PINs regarding the same project.
"We wish to submit a closing statement on behalf of our client" (a farm based 15 miles from Alford but with land nearer than there).
"We initially informed the Viking CCS project back in October 2022 that our client's land is subject to an option agreement for a large scale solar development. We have revisited this with the scheme numerous times throughout both the statutory consultation phase and the DCO examination period.
Having discussed the matter with the solar developers this week, it has been brought to our attention that no contact what so ever has been made. It is imperative that Viking CCS engages with the solar developers as a matter of urgency to ensure that the two projects can co-exist with minimal impact on the solar development."