Broadway House Solar Farm and Battery Storage Project

The Climate Emergency, the cost of living crisis and the energy crunch are all linked by how we generate, use and supply energy. We urgently need to generate energy from new, low cost, low carbon sources and solar is the lowest cost and quickest to deploy of all energy sources. It is currently one-ninth the cost of gas and less than one third of the cost of nuclear.

Solar is already making a difference, for example between June and August in 2022, solar often provided up to 25% of UK daytime electricity (National Grid ESO carbon app). The Government’s new strategy Powering Up Britain – Delivering Energy Security and Net Zero (March 2023) has set a target for a fivefold increase in solar by 2035, up to 70GW, enough to power around 20 million homes. This can only be achieved by deploying solar on both land and buildings.

Battery storage technologies are crucial in helping to integrate renewable energy generation, such as solar power, into the existing grid network.

For our solar farm and battery projects we require a nearby grid connection, a well-screened site that is consistent with planning policy and a supportive landowner. Broadway House Solar Farm offers all of these features.

The UK Food Security Report (2021) found that “the biggest medium to long term risk to the UK’s domestic production comes from climate change and other environmental pressures like soil degradation, water quality and biodiversity”.

Solar farms currently account for 0.08% of total land use in the UK (Solar Energy UK 2022). The Government targets for a fivefold increase in solar would result in 0.3% of the UK land area being used by solar (Carbon Brief, 2022). This is the equivalent to around half of the space used by golf courses.

There is no evidence that solar farms have a negative impact on wildlife. In fact, wildlife thrives within the sites when managed sensitively.

We are committed to significant net biodiversity gain at Broadway House through the creation of new habitats to support local wildlife. Existing hedgerows will be strengthened and new hedgerows will be planted to improve habitat connectivity across the site. We will set aside a significant proportion of the land for Biodiversity Enhancement Areas which will provide wildflower meadows for pollinators and grassland habitats to support mammals, birds and invertebrates.

Further ecological enhancement measures such as bird boxes and bat boxes will be placed within the site to encourage those populations to prosper.

Bluefield will contribute funds to local community projects as part of our solar farm investment. Previous examples of community benefit include funding the installation of solar panels on a primary school / village hall, contribution to local recreational facilities, improving public access and local environmental schemes. Establishing a local community energy fund could also be considered.

The solar farm is a temporary development and will not change the land classification from agricultural greenfield to commercial/industrial brownfield. In effect, it will remain agricultural land when the solar farm has been decommissioned.

Solar panels have no moving parts and emit no sound. Inverters and transformers can emit very low level sound, but these are sited away from houses and cannot be heard from more than a few metres away.

Battery Energy Storage Systems generate some low-level noise from the electrical infrastructure onsite, although usually only audible from within a short distance. A full noise assessment will be carried out as part of the planning application. If necessary, the assessment will recommend mitigation measures to reduce noise levels.

Large-scale battery installation in the UK must comply with health and safety regulations, both for installation and operation.

They typically use Lithium Ion Batteries, which are the same type of batteries as are used safely in mobile phones, laptops and electric vehicles every day all over the world.

Bluefield will contribute funds to local community projects as part of our investment. Previous examples of community benefit include funding the installation of solar panels on a primary school / village hall, contribution to local recreational facilities, improving public access and local environmental schemes.

It typically takes 6-9 months to build a solar farm and battery project of this size.

Site working would typically be Monday to Friday and Saturday mornings only. Most of the deliveries will take place during the first few months.

A construction management plan will be conditioned and subject to detailed liaison with the highways department at Northumberland County Council post planning. Once the solar farm is constructed, monitoring will be carried out remotely by Bluefield, thereby minimising visits by maintenance staff.