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Heckington Fen Solar Park

Copies of all the documents and information relating to our Development Consent Order Application for Heckington Fen Solar Park can be found on the Planning Inspectorate’s website here.
Latest news – 17th October 2023

The Planning Inspectorate on behalf of the Examining Authority has issued the Rule 8 letter. This letter includes the Examination Timetable, and notifies about the Hearings, other Procedural Decisions and the availability of Examination Documents. The Examination Timetable included in the Rule 8 letter replaces the draft timetable that was included in the Rule 6 letter. A copy of the Rule 8 letter can be found on the Planning Inspectorate's website linked above. The following Notice also provides details on the upcoming Hearings:

October 2023 – Notice of Compulsory Acquisition and Issue Specific Hearings.

Following the closure of the Relevant Representation period on 9 June 2023, we ran a targeted consultation prior to a Change Application being made to the Planning Inspectorate (on behalf of the Secretary of State). The consultation period closed on 18 August 2023 and our Change Application was submitted on 25 August 2023.

You can register for updates on our DCO application directly with the Planning Inspectorate here, who will then inform you about its progress.

The Preliminary meeting and first Issue Specific Hearings were held in September 2023. Spring 2024 is expected to see a recommendation issued to the Secretary of State by the Examining Authority. Once a recommendation has been made, the Secretary of State will make a decision on the application.

The full suite of application documents can be found on the PINS website here.

View the Consultation Documents
Contents

About Heckington Fen Solar Park

Lincolnshire is one of the sunniest locations in the UK, and an ideal place for clean solar energy to make a big contribution to powering our homes. In fact, the sun doesn’t even need to be shining – all it takes is daylight and a field of solar panels.

We use the latest technology to harvest the maximum electricity from the smallest space, including bifacial panels which make electricity from the underside as well as the top face, from light reflected off the ground.

Since October 2021, we have been asking local communities and wider stakeholders for their thoughts on plans for the solar park. During our early phase of consultation from October to December 2021 we asked people for their initial views on the early plans for Heckington Fen Solar Park. We have used the feedback from this early phase, along with statutory consultees to evolve our designs in advance of the Statutory Consultation, which took place between 30 June to 1 September 2022.

Located near the village of Heckington in North Kesteven, Lincolnshire, our project combines a large-scale solar park and energy storage facility, which enables us to store excess green energy for later use – moving us closer to net zero. The proposals also include a grid connection and works to extend National Grid Bicker Fen Substation.

In response to the feedback we received during the first consultation period, we developed a new Site Layout, extending our permissive path to create a longer circular route and adding a community orchard. We will set the rest of the land to biodiversity net gain areas, helping pollinators to flourish. Full details of our proposals can be found in our Consultation Document, which you can download here. Please keep an eye on our webpage for further updates.

Our Vision for Heckington Fen

Our Solar Park will contribute towards the UK’s ambition to achieve net zero by:

  • Generating enough affordable green electricity to power over 100,000 homes – reducing our dependence on imported fossil fuels

  • Storing energy – providing additional flexibility to support the growth of renewable energy

  • Removing more than 75,000 tonnes of harmful CO2 emissions per year

Heckington Fen will support the local economy by:

  • Creating jobs and supply chain opportunities

  • Giving farmers an additional source of income, protecting the agricultural industry for future generations

  • Adding business rates of over £1m per year to North Kesteven District Council

The Project will enhance the local environment. We will:

  • Create additional wildlife habitat

  • Plant and manage new hedgerows

  • Reinforce boundary planting

  • Establish habitat corridors, helping birds thrive

  • Offer a new permissive path over 4 kilometres that links to the existing footpath in the area

If you are unable to watch the above video, please view the Updated Site Layout Plan.

The video above shows how the site layout has changed since our statutory consultation in Summer 2022. The most recent localised changes to our proposals can be seen at the top of this page.

Consultation

We consulted on our proposed solar park and energy storage facility between 30 June to 1 September 2022. This Statutory Consultation followed an initial consultation with local residents and stakeholders between 22 October and 17 December 2021. The Statutory Consultation included a new Site Layout, that was developed in response to the feedback we received during the first consultation period. A further (targeted) consultation was held between 11 November and 18 December 2022, ahead of submitting our DCO application.

Following the submission of our Development Consent Order (DCO) Application, we ran a further targeted consultation prior to a Change Application being made to the Planning Inspectorate (on behalf of the Secretary of State). As a result of ongoing discussions with National Grid Electricity Transmission pls (NGET), it became clear that additional works at Bicker Fen Substation are required to enable the grid connection. These works lie outside of the current Order Limits at the Bicker Fen Substation, which led to us undertake further consultation. The consultation period closed on 18 August 2023.

To view all of the materials produced for our previous consultations, please click the button below.

The planning process

As the proposed generation capacity exceeds 50 megawatts (MW), Heckington Fen Solar Park is classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP). The consenting regime for NSIPs comes under the Planning Act 2008 (the Act) and requires Ecotricity to apply for a Development Consent Order (DCO).

Ecotricity (Heck Fen Solar) Limited (the Applicant) intends to submit an application for a DCO under Section 37 of the Act to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS). The Application will be examined by PINS – the independent body responsible for examining NSIPs – who will make a recommendation on the application to the Secretary of State (SoS). The SoS makes the final decision on a DCO application, this is expected to be mid-2024.

Heckington Fen Ongoing Consultation timeline

You can find out more about the DCO process at infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk. PINS has also published guidance on the process for members of the public, which can be viewed online.

Have your say

Thank you to all those that took the time to join our in person and virtual consultation events in 2021, and 2022. You will shortly be able to register your interest in our proposals directly with the Planning Inspectorate, who will then inform you about the progress of our application.

Get in touch

If you’d like to talk to us about Heckington Fen Solar Park or view a hard copy of any of the above information, please email heckingtonfensolar@ecotricity.co.uk, call Freephone 0800 151 0784 or write to us at FREEPOST ECOTRICITY SOLAR PARK.

FAQs

Why Heckington Fen?

The Heckington Fen Solar Park would be built on land already approved for the use of renewable energy, with wind 22 turbines given planning permission by the Secretary of State in February 2013. Since then, we have been unable to satisfy the Ministry of Defences radar concerns to date, which means we have not been able to start building the wind park.

The climate crisis needs fighting now, so we’re keen to use Heckington Fen to create clean, renewable energy which contributes towards the UK’s net zero targets. If the solar park is approved and constructed, we will not build the wind turbines.

The proposed solar park will generate around 3 times more electricity than the wind turbines would, and with the addition of energy storage we’ll be able to store excess green energy to use when demand on the national grid is high.

We expect the solar park to have a lifetime of 40 years, during which we’d set the land not needed for the panels to wildflower, helping the pollinators and insects the country needs so desperately. After the operational life of the project, the solar park would be decommissioned and it is expected the land would return to intensive agricultural production.

We already have a wealth of information on the site from the previous wind park application, but more assessments have been completed to supplement these, including new ecology surveys which confirmed the land is of limited value to wildlife due to the intensive arable farming of the land which is normally used to grow crops for animal feed.

Heckington Fen map
What are we proposing?

The Heckington Fen Solar Park will comprise solar panels, energy storage, an onsite substation and associated infrastructure, and a cable to, and extension at Bicker Fen Substation. The Indicative Site Layout shown in the Application can be found above, along with a video.

Who is Ecotricity?

Founded by Dale Vince OBE in 1995, Ecotricity became the world’s first green energy company the following year, kick-starting the global green electricity movement. We specialise in the development and supply of renewable energy, principally the development of wind and solar power and, more recently, green gas. Since 1996 we have been building new sources of green energy and now supply around 200,000 businesses and homes. Find out more.

Why do we need solar energy?

Solar power with storage is the perfect complement to Britain’s huge wind power resource. On average, we get more light in the summer and more wind in the winter, so it balances out across the seasons.

Heckington Fen Solar Park will be an important step forward in moving the UK away from fossil fuels and helping to fight the climate crisis, as well as providing long-term energy security for Britain.

The UK has ambitious climate change targets to achieve net zero by 2050, going further than the previous target of 80% reduction from the 1990 baseline as set out in the Climate Change Act 2008. Legally binding commitments such as these mean that we need to increase our renewable energy capacity to achieve the goal of reducing carbon emissions.

Benefits of solar
Benefits of solar

Community Benefit is not a planning consideration. However, in addition to the new permissive path, community orchard and biodiversity enhancement, a community benefit fund is being explored and could be provided as part of our development.

Any community benefit fund would need to be in line with our mission to end the use of fossil fuels and tackling the climate crisis. This focuses on three key areas of the economy that generate the most carbon emissions: energy, transport and food.

How would it affect wildlife?

The plans will create additional wildlife habitat and involve the planting and managing of new hedgerows as well as the reinforcement of boundary planting. Parts of the site will remain in agricultural use.

Skylarks, water voles, dragonflies and pollinators are some of the species that would benefit from the proposed environmental habitat management plan, with generous setbacks to existing drainage ditches creating habitat corridors. You can find out more information about how impacts on wildlife have been considered when designing the solar park by viewing a copy of the consultation booklet. More detail can also be found in the non technical summary (NTS) of which can be found on the Planning Inspectorate's website.

How much electricity would the solar park generate?

The solar park would create enough clean electricity to power more than all the homes in North Kesteven, making it a real milestone in the fight against the climate crisis. Our proposals would stop over 75,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year from entering the atmosphere. By comparison the expected installed capacity of around 0.5GW is a quarter of the size of Nottingham’s 2GW West Burton A Coal Fired Power Station.

The anticipated yearly generation of over 385 gigawatt hours (GWh) is nearly three times that of the approved wind park and would power the equivalent of over 100,000 homes with green electricity, as well as providing energy storage to help with supply and demand of electricity on the grid network.

Energy storage will play a key role in achieving net zero, providing flexibility to the grid so that high volumes of low carbon power such as wind and solar can be integrated.

How the numbers are calculated

The installed capacity for the site is expected to be 500MW (DC) with an export capacity of 400MW AC. An annual generation for a solar park of this size could generate approximately 385 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of renewable electricity per year. The expected renewable energy generation calculation can be carried out as follows:

400,000kW (400MW x 1000) x 8,766 (number of hours in a year 365.25days to account for leap years * 24hours) x 0.11 (calculated using a capacity factor sourced from DUKES averaged over five years, (DUKES 6.3, BEIS 2022)) = 385,704,000kWh.

Based on this annual electricity generation figure of 385GWh, we estimate that the proposed solar park could supply renewable electricity equivalent to the approximate annual domestic needs of some 133,000 typical UK households per annum (385,704,000kWh ÷ 2,900kWh) based on Ofgem Typical Domestic Consumption Values.

Using electricity consumptions figures by BEIS (2023 update) the number of homes powered could be some 104,000 (385,704,000kWh ÷ 3,709kWh), or using a local average of electricity supply for North Kesteven 99,485 homes (385,704,000kWh ÷ 3,877kWh) due to the higher than average electricity use locally.

Capacity factor, or load factor, is a term often used to consider the performance of solar parks (and other forms of generation). It means how much electricity a site generates in a year compared to how much electricity could theoretically have been generated if it were producing at maximum output continuously. An industry standard is to use an average capacity factor over five years for the purposes of these calculations, these can be found at the BEIS link below.

Estimated Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Savings: To predict the estimated carbon dioxide emissions from electricity supplied from the solar park to the grid, the current grid mix is considered, which comprises all fuels, including nuclear and renewables. The 2021 figure is 198 tonnes of CO2 per GWh of electricity supplied (DUKES 5.14, BEIS 2022), meaning the proposed solar park could result in a yearly saving of 76,369 tonnes of CO2. The proposed solar park will, therefore, make a positive contribution towards the UK Government’s climate change objectives. This calculation is 385,704,000/1,000,000 (kWh to GWh) * 198gCO2/kWh = 76,369 tonnes per year.

Local domestic household consumption in North Kesteven totals some 200GWh per annum, therefore the 385GWh the solar park could produce is well in excessive of this. This data is based on BEIS ‘regional and local authority electricity consumption statistics’ (BEIS, 2022)

The calculation for the equivalent number of cars being taken off the road is based off HyNet’s website:

HyNet calculated noted that by 2030 they would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 10 million tonnes every year – the equivalent of taking 4 million cars off the road. Using this equation,10,000,000 by 4,000,000 results in 2.5 tonnes per car. To make this site specific, 75,000 tonnes divided by 2.5 results in the equivalent of 30,000 cars. Further references can be provided upon request.  

DUKES TABLE 6.3, BEIS. 2022. Renewable sources of energy

HyNet. 2022. Cars off the road

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