Land at Pudds Cross,
Leyhill Road, Bovingdon
BSR Energy (BSR) is bringing forward a proposal for a 38MW Solar Development, which would power the equivalent of 10,665 homes a year and provide a reduction of 12,042 tonnes of CO2 per year, along with 10MW of battery storage on Land at Pudds Cross. The proposal represents an important opportunity to boost green energy production and storage in the local area.
Why is this needed?
We are in the midst of a climate emergency. The most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change outlines that immediate action must be taken to avoid irreparable climate breakdown. Solar and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) developments, such as the one proposed on Land at Pudds Cross are an important part of the solution.
Dacorum Borough Council declared a climate emergency in 2019 and, as such, has pledged to become Net Zero as an organisation by 2030 and Net Zero as a borough by 2050. The Council has also pledged that whilst it accepts the majority of the Borough’s emissions are outside of its direct control, it commits to support any individuals, community groups, businesses and schools to become Net Zero by 2050.
BSR is dedicated to being part of the solution and the change towards renewable energy sources in the UK. The impacts of climate change are already evident, with record-breaking temperatures and drought declarations becoming increasingly common. The time to act and mitigate further damage to our planet is now.
Solar energy is an affordable and efficient form of green energy which is an important part of ensuring the energy independence of the United Kingdom and working towards meeting the UK target of net zero by 2050.
Moreover, National Grid forecast that up to 31GW of total storage could be needed by 2030, increasing to 72GW by 2050. The UK has just over 7GW of storage currently operational or under construction, demonstrating a clear requirement for the acceleration of battery storage development across the UK. (Figures from National Grid’s Future Energy Scenarios Report, July 2023).
Why here?
BSR often gets asked regarding its developments ‘Why here?’. The key driver for looking for a suitable location to host a development of this nature is the National Grid.
Firstly, there is a need to identify a part of the Grid that has capacity, and then a suitable point of connection to export any generation needs to be identified. National Grid has offered BSR a connection into an existing 132kv tower on the site. With this connection BSR is able to export up to 38 MW of energy and import up to 10 MW of Energy.
Once BSR has identified a suitable grid connection, landowners who have a suitable amount of land for the development are then contacted to gauge interest. Once interested landowners have been identified site visits are undertaken to view the land and discuss the proposal further.BSR also considers Land Grade, Landscape impact, Heritage, Flood Zones, Noise, Transport, and Ecology as part of the site selection process. A full Site Selection report which details why Land at Pudds Cross has been chosen will be submitted as part of the Planning Application
