The Proposal

BSR’s proposal for Land at Pudds Cross would deliver the following:

  • A Solar Development with a total export capacity of up to 38MW. This is the equivalent energy production to powering 10,665 homes every year, resulting in the reduction of 12,042 tonnes of CO2 per year being emitted into the atmosphere.
  • A Battery Energy Storage System (BESS)  with a 10MW capacity, which will ensure that when energy generated is surplus to grid requirements, this energy is not wasted and will be available for future use, when needs may exceed power generation.
  • At least a minimum 60% increase in Biodiversity Net Gain, which far exceeds the 10% target as outlined in the Environment Act 2021.
  • BSR will ensure that habitats on site are retained and managed. If there are instances where this is not possible, suitable mitigation will be taken to ensure that there is no detrimental impact.
  • BSR will also ensure that improvements are made to the condition of existing habitats, as well as facilitating the creation of new habitation which will enhance biodiversity on site. This could include:
  • Planting of hedgerow and trees along all sensitive boundaries to blockscreen views of the development as much as possible.
  • Planting of night-scented flowers that will help attract night-flying insects.
  • Retention of existing vegetation to screen views from the Public Right of Way (PRoW) through the site.
  • Creation of species rich grassland and wildflower grassland to increase biodiversity value of the site.
  • Provision of insect hotels, bat boxes and log piles to provide a variety of habitat across the site for a number of species.
  • An important part of ensuring the energy independence of the United Kingdom and working towards fulfilling the Government’s net zero targets by 2050.
  • Generation of Business Rates to Local Council – this additional income can be used by the Council to fund Council run services. This development would generate approximately £95,000 per annum.
  • The proposal is temporary and will be in place for 40 years
  • Given that the site is temporary, and farming activity is hard on the land, the fallow years the provision of solar on the site will provide will contribute to improving the soil quality and the condition of the land for agriculture in the future.

BSR always seeks to select land of a low agricultural grade for its proposals where possible and the Land at Pudds Cross site has been classified as 100% Grade 3b which is not the best and most versatile agricultural land.

The development of Solar and BESS in this location will also allow the landowner the opportunity for a guaranteed, stable income, compared to farming the land, supporting the farm’s wider activities for the next 40 years. The proposed Solar and BESS facility would have an operational lifespan of 40 years, after which the development would be decommissioned, and the land would be returned to agricultural use, with no detrimental impact to the quality of the land.

The proposed development has also been designed to ensure that there is no significant harm on the heritage significance of the Grade II Listed Marchant’s Farmhouse and the Double Barn at Marchant’s Farm which is also a Grade II Listed Building.

The design and layout of the Solar Development took this into consideration and as a result excluded the immediate surroundings of these Listed Buildings to ensure that there are no direct views of the proposed development from these. The immediate field boundaries were kept undeveloped to further minimise any potential harm which could be caused by a change to the setting of these Listed Buildings.

It should also be noted that by excluding the immediate fields around these Listed Buildings, that this removes any risk of direct visibility, and ensures that the approach and experience of the farmhouse and barn retain an agricultural character in these areas.

The above site layout plan indicates the proposed location for the Solar and BESS site, underground cable connection route, and substation location.

How does it work?

Solar Panels generate power from sunrays. When sunlight penetrates the panels, semiconductors within them are stimulated to generate useable energy. The energy generated is then transferred to a point of connection where it is then exported to the National Grid.

Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are one of the most flexible assets that can be connected to the grid and are key to enabling the change to renewable energy. A BESS collects energy from energy sources, such as wind and or solar panels or from the electricity network and stores the energy using battery storage technology.

During periods of high electricity demand, power stations which run on fossil fuels are brought online to respond to this increase, projects such as this help reduce the frequency of these events by responding faster with potential long term cost savings to energy consumers by taking the excess energy from the BESS instead.