There is now widespread recognition that the UK, and the rest of the world, is in a climate emergency. Renewable energy has a significant part to play in meeting the UK’s targets of decarbonising the energy system by 2030 and achieving net zero by 2050.

Solar energy has an important part to play in helping reach these targets, as well as providing a balanced energy mix, and it is estimated that 40GW¹ of solar will be needed by 2030 to stay on track with net zero ambitions, with around 60% of this likely to come from large scale ground mounted solar farms.

Beane Solar Farm could save an estimated 760,000 tonnes of CO2 over the lifetime of the project, compared to the equivalent fossil fuel generation².

There is also a pressing need to increase energy security in the UK. There are potential adverse impacts on local populations and the economy through highly volatile fuel costs, contributing to fuel poverty and high energy costs for businesses and industry.

In addition, increasing focus on home-grown renewable energy can deliver environmental and climate change gains, reductions in carbon emissions, as well as investment and employment opportunities.

Our current power system still relies heavily on fossil fuels, such as gas. The volatile price of these is the reason that bills have increased so rapidly in recent months. The need to rapidly scale up home grown energy has become even more urgent.

Solar is a free and inexhaustible resource which has an important role to play as part of a balanced energy mix. Large scale solar, alongside other renewable technologies, is now the cheapest source of new electricity generation making solar development not only beneficial for the environment but also for bill payers. If consented, Beane Solar Farm would be capable of producing clean, green electricity for approximately 15,000³ homes every year.

The Beane Solar Farm proposal includes a host of measures which will reduce potential visibility of the site whilst providing wildlife corridors and vital resources for mammals, birds, and insect species.

Beane Solar Farm has also been specifically designed to enable continued agricultural use, in the form of sheep grazing. The proposed grassland mix has been chosen for its suitability for grazing.

Through planting measures proposed a Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) of 98% in habitat units, a BNG of nearly 190% in hedgerow units and a BNG of 10% in watercourse units could be achieved.

The solar farm could deliver direct benefit to the area - generating jobs during construction and decommissioning. Inward investment can be significant as a range of services will be required including haulage, on-site welfare facilities, refuse and recycling facilities, transport and local accommodation for construction workers. In addition, the solar farm would deliver business rates annually for the life of the project, helping to fund vital local services for all local residents.

If, having read the above, you would like to support the project, or submit any kind of representation, you can do so by submitting a comment online via the East Hertfordshire District Council’s planning portal at publicaccess.eastherts.gov.uk/online-applications. The planning reference is 3/24/2245/FUL and should be included in all correspondence.

 

^{1 https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/CCC-Accelerated-Electrification-Vivid-Economics-Imperial-1.pdf}

^{2 Using DESNZ’s “all non-renewable fuels” emissions statistic of 437 tonnes of carbon dioxide per GWh of electricity supplied in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (July 2024) Table 5.14 (“Estimated carbon dioxide emissions from electricity supplied”) to calculate carbon reduction}

^{3 The homes figure has been calculated by taking the predicted annual electricity generation of the site (using an average solar capacity factor of 11.2%) and dividing this by the annual average electricity figures from DESNZ showing that the annual GB average domestic household consumption is 3,239 kWh (January 2024).}