West Burton and Heckington Fen photo voltaic and storage initiatives safe growth consent orders from UK authorities. The 2 vegetation are newest in a line of main photo voltaic initiatives permitted because the Labour authorities took workplace in July 2024.


A series of green fields with hedges and a solar array in the center. There is a green shed in the right hand corner of the image and the sky is visible overhead.

The UK authorities has bold targets for photo voltaic technology in Nice Britain.

Picture: Des Blenkinsopp, Geograph Britain and Eire, through Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-2.0

Two photo voltaic initiatives in England totaling nearly 1 GW of capability, plus co-located storage, have been given the inexperienced mild by the UK authorities.

Each initiatives have been granted growth consent orders, which means growth can now proceed on the 480 MW West Burton Photo voltaic Farm and Heckington Fen Photo voltaic Farm, with reported capability within the area of 500 MW.

Positioned close to the positioning of a former coal-fired energy station, West Burton Photo voltaic Farm is anticipated to comprise a 480 MW photo voltaic plant plus co-located battery power storage system (BESS). The venture is being developed by Island Inexperienced Energy, whose 600 MW Cottam Photo voltaic Venture was granted growth consent in September 2024.

Heckington Fen Photo voltaic Farm is being developed by Ecotricity as a photo voltaic plus storage venture. The consent resolution for Heckington Fen was delayed by disagreement between the venture developer and native landowners, regarding the cable path to the close by Bicker Fen substation. In August 2024, venture developer Ecotricity requested Secretary of State for power Ed Miliband postpone his ruling to permit additional negotiations with landowners.

A call on West Burton Photo voltaic Farm was additionally topic to delay. A ruling had initially been anticipated in November 2024. Paperwork printed alongside the consent order reveal the Planning Inspectorate, the analyzing authority for big infrastructure initiatives in England and Wales, had advisable the federal government withhold consent for the venture in Might 2024. The examiner prompt venture developer Island Inexperienced Energy submit an modification to the appliance mitigating the initiatives affect on a close-by nationwide heritage website.

The 2 approvals are the most recent in a line of large-capacity photo voltaic initiatives which have secured growth consent since July 2024. Inside two weeks of taking workplace, the brand new UK authorities signed off on three utility-scale initiatives with a mixed whole of greater than 1.3 GW of latest put in capability.

Talking with pv journal on the time, Chris Hewett, chief govt of Photo voltaic Vitality UK, stated he believed the brand new UK authorities “unambiguously” desires the business to develop. The UK authorities has dedicated to round 30 GW extra photo voltaic capability in Nice Britain’s technology combine by 2030, as a part of its Clear Energy 2030 Motion Plan unveiled on Dec. 13, 2024.

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