The government has granted planning consent for Boom Power’s 400MW East Yorkshire Solar Farm, a nationally significant infrastructure project (NSIP).
The development consent order (DCO) was provided on 9 May in a letter signed by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s (DESNZ’s) head of energy infrastructure planning, David Wagstaff. Energy secretary Ed Miliband made the approval decision.
It is the first DCO to be obtained by Boom Power, but the developer noted that the involvement of its former company identity Wirsol Energy, in partnership with Hive Energy, in the Cleve Hill Solar Park “laid the foundation” for its approach.
The solar power plant will be sited between the hamlet of Gribthorpe, the villages of Spaldington and Wressle and the town of Howden, and cover a total area of 1,445 hectares. The DCO application was accepted for examination in December 2023.
Boom Power emphasised that the development plans were formed following extensive consultation and to ensure the scheme is sensitive to the local environment and needs of the community.
Buffer zones and screening vegetation will reduce visual impact, while existing hedgerows will be preserved. The development includes the creation of wildlife habitats, such as grassland and woodland zones, and a large area adjacent to the River Foulness has been included within the order limits to support overwintering bird species.
The project will also preserve public rights of way and introduce permissive paths.
Boom Power founder Mark Hogan also noted the project was “meticulously designed” to integrate grid stability considerations.
The solar power generation plant will connect to the National Grid at the Drax substation in North Yorkshire. Boom Power will use tracker PV systems that, at maximum tilt, will be 3.5 metres high, and the firm expects that construction will take three years.
A decision on another NSIP put forward for a DCO by Boom could come soon. Its planning application for the 237.5MW co-located solar and storage project in Fenwick, Doncaster was accepted by the planning inspectorate in November 2024. With up to six months’ examination, and another six for the secretary of state to make a decision, the development could be confirmed by the end of this year.
The East Yorkshire project marks the third solar NSIP to be granted a DCO this year, in the wake of the government’s commitment to a clean power system by 2030. Both Island Green Power’s 480MW West Burton Solar PV power plant and Ecotricity’s 500MW Heckington Fen Solar project will be located in Lincolnshire.
