Solar developer Enso Energy has secured planning permission from two councils for a 49.9MW solar power plant in the south of England.
The Denmead Solar Farm, which sits on 87 hectares of land under the jurisdiction of East Hampshire County Council and Winchester City Council, received approval from both relevant bodies for a 40-year operational lifespan. While the earliest proposals for the project, submitted in 2022, did include plans for a battery energy storage system (BESS), the final approved development plan removed this after consultees raised concerns about the fire risk of BESS systems and the potential for groundwater pollution if the system were to fail.
Following the approval of the development, further conditions for planning approval have been stipulated by East Hampshire County Council. These include the setting out of a management plan for remedial action in the event of a solar panel breaking in order to prevent groundwater pollution and the carrying out of a post-installation noise assessment within three months of the project beginning operation.
According to Enso Energy, the development will create a 56% biodiversity net gain, and sheep grazing will be able to continue below and around the 91,840 solar panels to be installed across the eight parcels of land in the development.
While a construction start date has not yet been announced, Enso Energy states that construction will take seven months to complete. The solar power plant will connect to the local Lovedean substation.
According to local news reports, councillor opinions were initially mixed on the development proposals, with councillor Nick Drew criticising the development as an “industrialisation of the countryside” and councillor David Ashcroft stating, “We’ve got to do it, it’s very important”.
A strong year for Enso Energy
This is not the first planning win Enso Energy has had this year. In July, minister of state Matthew Pennycook granted planning permission for the 23MW Honiley Road Solar Farm, after it was “called in” by the previous secretary of state. The development will also include a 57MW BESS.
Enso Energy also saw major success in the most recent Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction round, Allocation Round 6 (AR6). The developer secured CfDs for four of its solar developments, totalling 164MW. AR6 saw new records being set for the solar industry, with 93 ground-based solar projects totalling 3.3GW of capacity landing support through the auction round. Solar PV achieved a strike price of £50.07/MWh for AR6, well above AR5’s £47/MWh.
