Richard recently met with Parish Councils affected by East Park Energy's proposed solar farm that would traverse the most northerly parts of East Bedfordshire and over into Huntingdonshire.
Richard Fuller MP said:
The proposed 2,000+ acre solar farm is of such a scale that it would alter radically the landscape of North Bedfordshire and its plans will bypass local authorities and be determined at a national level.
Following the recent sale of East Park Energy’s parent company to a new set of investors based in Scotland, Brockwell Energy Limited, I brought together local Parish Councils to decide on next steps.
There is a general consensus that this particular project is far too large for the area. Other, much smaller, schemes have been developed and others are working their way through the local planning process now. Though there have been controversies with these schemes as well, they have generally been able to work with local Parish representatives and respond to local concerns. I am very sceptical about the East Park Energy proposal.
Notwithstanding my understanding that for some farming families the proposal is a sensible way to use their property in an economically beneficial way, I feel I must oppose the scheme as currently proposed. Only substantial reductions in scale can, I feel, give this project any hope of success and acceptance.
Earlier this week, Richard asked the Energy Minister, Justin Tomlinson MP, to look closely at the issues of solar farm connectivity to the national grid. His question and the Minister's reply can be watched at: https://youtu.be/FYSDof1weFo?si=FxR9EFbKgn2HP1re
According to a recent report by the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association, 44% of investors in solar power say there are problems getting interconnections with the grid. There are issues in the distribution network, which means that the transmission network is probably the only place that large-scale utility solar farms can connect, and people are worried that only particular parts of that network accept contracts. Richard asked the Minister to look at this because there are major concerns in North East Bedfordshire that there will be connections at Eaton Socon power station, which is one of the few places where contracts are being offered.
The Minister replied that the government is working with Ofgem and network companies to release more network capacity and to prevent speculative projects from obtaining and retaining network capacity. He said that this, alongside faster network infrastructure delivery, should result in more capacity across the country and help to reduce any clustering of generation projects.
