Solar panels and battery system could be built on 350-acre site

A NORWEGIAN state-owned company has submitted plans for a solar farm and battery system on a huge swathe of farmland in East Yorkshire.

More than 350 acres of land near Allerthorpe Golf and Country Park would be taken up by tens of thousands of solar panels as well as the battery energy storage system, which releases the energy when customers need it most.

The applicant for the proposed Soay Greener Grid Park is Statkraft UK, which is 100 per cent owned by the Norwegian state and is Europe’s largest generator of renewable energy.

Energy from the farm, between Thornton and Allerthorpe Common, would be fed into the National Grid via the nearby Thornton substation.

National Grid has said battery storage will play an increasingly pivotal role as fossil fuels are phased out. It aims to manage peaks and troughs in supply and demand when intermittent renewables become an even larger part of the energy mix, cutting the risk of shortages and blackouts. The amount of electricity generated by sunlight peaks around midday, but demand peaks in the evening, which is after sunset for much of the year.

Documents submitted to East Riding Council as part of the planning application state: “A particular area National Grid has identified as requiring these services is in East Yorkshire. The Soay Greener Grid Park is designed to support the flexible operation of the National Grid and the decarbonisation of the electricity supply. The proposed Greener Grid Park would provide rapid-response electrical back-up and energy management and would also represent an early deployment within the UK of a high-tech grid balancing facility.” Claire Triffitt, the clerk to Thornton Parish Council, which has just 110 people on the electoral roll, said the general consensus was the scheme was “inevitable” given the Government’s push on renewables. She added: “I just think it is coming whether we welcome it or not. Someone has to have it at the end of the day.”

Chairwoman of Allerthorpe Parish Council Laura Brennan said villagers were “exhausted” after their six-year ultimately unsuccessful battle against plans for the caravan park at Allerthorpe, and did not feel they “stand a chance” against the latest plans.

“It doesn’t matter if I think it’s the worst thing in the world – it will go through. We are just going to have to learn to live with it,” she said.

The farm, which would have an operational life of 37 years if approved, would have an output of up to 49.9MW, on a par with the 50MW Scurf Dyke farm at Hutton Cranswick.

There is also a 30MW farm at Skerne, and an 11,000-panel farm is being built at Cottingham to supply Castle Hill Hospital.

I just think it is coming whether we welcome it or not. Claire Triffitt, the clerk to Thornton Parish Council.