RES has submitted a planning application for its 20MW Boxted Solar Farm to Barbergh District Council in Suffolk, England following a consultation period that saw the design of the site modified after feedback.
If consented the project would be capable of generating enough energy to power approximately 8900 homes every year.
The proposal includes solar panels, battery storage containers, inverters, a substation, landscape mitigation and biodiversity measures.
The plan have passed through a detailed design process, with results collated from numerous detailed environmental and technical site surveys, in addition to feedback gathered from the local community.
Following a consultation period, several design changes were made to the site layout, including the removal of some infrastructure and addition of planting in certain areas to minimise potential visibility, and increasing the setback distance from Dripping Pan Wood.
An extensive landscaping plan forms part of the scheme and includes new blocks of woodland, plus the planting of hedgerow, trees and flower-rich grassland areas.
These landscaping measures, as well as reducing potential visibility, are designed to provide wildlife corridors and vital resources for mammals, birds, and insects.
These measures, combined with a skylark habitat management area of approximately 70 acres, could deliver a biodiversity net gain of 99% in habitat units and 48% in hedgerow units said RES.
“Solar projects like Boxted are quick to install, increase our domestic energy generation and improve our security of supply,” said RES project manager Claire Chamberlain.
“If consented, Boxted Solar Farm would save an estimated 13,000 tonnes of CO2 over the project’s lifetime helping to tackle the rate of climate change.”
