Public consultation launches for a Solar Farm in North Kesteven
Springwell Solar Farm is proposed to be able to produce enough power to run around half of all Lincolnshire's homes
A public consultation will launch today about a proposed solar farm in North Kesteven that could power around half of all homes in Lincolnshire. More details about the site for Springwell Solar Farm are expected to come out, and a series of public exhibition events are planned.
Those behind a proposed solar farm for North Kesteven have launched a public consultation today.
So far, we know Springwell Solar Farm will sit between Sleaford and Lincoln, and will have a temporary lifespan of around 40 years.
The project is in its very early stages, having first been proposed on January 10th.
Designs, plans for potential environmental impact assessments, and community benefits are expected to be announced today.
Ben Fawcett is the Head of Solar for EDF Renewables, he says that solar is vital for our future:
"If we want to hit net zero for all the environmental benefits, as well as security supply benefits, we can't just rely on putting solar on buildings or on brown field land. We do need to use that green field land. I think it's therefore, about picking the most appropriate places, and also doing it with as minimal impact as possible.
"You know, we think solar has got a very big part to play, but it is a part, it's a side. The other technologies... we all know that they are... on the rare sunny days, often can be very still and not windy, so having minimization just based on wind is going to be much more expensive, than a diversified policy.
"The same goes to having a policy just based on solar. You know, that would be much more expensive. It's about having an appropriate mix and we do need some. Otherwise, decarbonisation will be more expensive.
It's also said this solar project could supply half of all Lincolnshire homes with the amount of energy it'll produce. That's based upon the average domestic electricity consumption per home (temperature corrected) per the Energy Consumption in the UK.
Ben told us why Lincolnshire is a great place for Solar Farms:
"Lincolnshire certainly is a good place for for solar, and you know part of that is due to the grid. Obviously, Lincolnshire has got a long history of hosting a number of coal projects, which are either close or coming into the end of their lives. So there's a lot of electrical infrastructure in place.
"There's also a number of gas stations as well, which we obviously prefer for productive reasons, to what we have renewable. But they're still very important from finding flexibility to the system.
"So ultimately, what it means is there's just a lot of grid infrastructure. So, you know building new grid infrastructure is very expensive and very time consuming, and therefore if you can cite a project that's close to that, it brings the timelines of delivery for a project much closer, and also it's a lot cheaper for the country as a whole- that we shouldn't be building grid for the sake of it. Especially when we can build good sized projects, next to existing infrastructure and reuse that infrastructure."
All of the consultation information will be released today and a series of public exhibition events are being held, where people can go and talk to those involved, about the proposals and give feedback.
The dates and locations of these sessions are:
Tuesday 31 January (2pm-7pm) – Blankney Old School House, Drury St, Blankney, LN4 3AZ
Wednesday 01 February (2pm-7pm) – Scopwick Village Hall, Brookside, Scopwick LN4 3PA
Friday 03 February (11am-4pm) – Ashby de la Launde Village Hall, Church Avenue, Ashby de la Launde, LN4 3JQ
Saturday 04 February (11am-4pm) – Metheringham Village Hall, Fen Road, Metheringham, LN4 3AA
Find out more at the Springwell Solar Farm website.