The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Claire Coutinho, has moved the decision on Mallard Pass Solar Farm. The decision deadline, originally 16 May 2024, has now been set as 13 June 2024 by the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).
Mallard Pass Solar Farm is expected to generate around 350MW of solar energy, classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP). The project, a joint venture from renewables developers Windel Energy and Recurrent Energy, is proposed to be located across the East Coast Mainline, partly situated in South Kesteven, Lincolnshire, and partly in Rutland.
The Development Consent Order (DCO) application was submitted on 24 November 2022 and accepted by DESNZ just under a month later on 21 December. After examination by the Examination Authority during 2023, a recommendation was put to Coutinho on 16 February 2024.
Coutinho had to make a statement to parliament to announce the delay, in which she said the new deadline is “to ensure there is sufficient time for the Department to consider the application”.
Commenting on the Secretary of State’s decision to delay the outcome of Mallard Pass Solar Farm, Sarah Price, planning lead for the project, said: “We remain confident in our proposals for the project and will continue to work with the Secretary of State to provide them with any information they require to determine our Development Consent Order application.
“We are grateful for the engagement we have had with key stakeholders and local communities throughout the pre-application process and to date. This has been invaluable in helping us shape a strong set of proposals for Mallard Pass Solar Farm that will support the urgent need to decarbonise our electricity system and enhance the local environment.”
According to Price, the solar farm would deliver recreational benefits to the community, including 8.1km of new permissive paths and a 72% net gain for ecological habitats, planting 7.5km of trees.
Planning for solar farms
The delayed decision is another pushback against the solar farm, which has had continued opposition.
Back in 2022, MPs called for a national strategy for solar farms, with MP for Grantham and Stamford Gareth Davies saying it was “critical” and should encompass both nationally significant and locally approved applications “to ensure that counties such as Lincolnshire are not dominated by significant developments and small developments that add up to complete domination by solar farms across the county”.
Alica Kearns, MP for Rutland and Melton called for regulation at that time, too, when she spoke out against the Mallard Pass Solar Farm in a debate in the House of Commons on UK-Taiwan Friendship and Co-operation on 10 February 2022.
Kearns said Mallard Pass is “being developed by a de facto Chinese company with supply chains reaching into Xinjiang”, referencing the accusations of forced labour practices and human rights abuses against the Uyghur people in the Chinese province of Xinjiang.
More recently, a ministerial statement was laid before parliament urging councils not to approve planning for solar farms on high-quality farmland. Emphasis on the UK’s food security has seen a shift towards rooftop solar as the preferred source of renewable energy generation.
Criticisms tend to focus on the visual impact of a solar farm or the potential for the UK to lose the ability to grow its own food; a decision on the Mallard Pass Solar Farm might have been incendiary at this stage of the debate.
