The government has granted the planning permission for 400 MW East Yorkshire Solar Farm from Boom Power, a nationally important infrastructure project (NSIP).
The development assignment order (DCO) was provided on 9 May in a letter signed by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s (Desnzs) head of energy infrastructure planning, David Wagstaff. Energie -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 his former business identity Wirsol Energy, in collaboration with Hive Energy, in the Cleve Hill Solar Park “has” laid “the foundation” for his approach.
The solar energy plant will be placed between the hamlet of Gribthorpe, the villages of Spaldington and Wrressle and the city of Howden, and cover a total area of 1,445 hectares. The DCO application was accepted for research in December 2023.
Boom Power emphasized that the development plans were established after extensive consultation and to ensure that the scheme is sensitive to the local environment and needs of the community.
Buffer zones and screening vegetation will reduce the visual impact, while existing hedgerows are stored. The development includes the creation of nature habitats, such as grassland and forest zones, and a large area next to the river disability is included within the order limits to support the wintering bird species.
The project will also retain the transit rights and introduce tollmissive paths.
Founder Mark Hogan van Boom Power also noted that the project was ‘carefully designed’ to integrate considerations of grater stability.
The solar energy generation factory will connect to the National Raster in the Drax -Understation in North Yorkshire. Boom Power will use Tracker PV systems that will be 3.5 meters high at maximum tilt and the company expects construction to take three years.
A decision about another NSIP that was brought forward for a DCO by Boom could come soon. The planning application for the 237.5 MW Co location Solar and Storage Project in Fenwick, Doncaster was accepted by the Inspectorate planning in November 2024. With a maximum of six months and another six for the State Secretary to make a decision, the development could be confirmed by the end of this year.
The East Yorkshire project marks the third solar -NSIP that will receive a DCO this year, after the government’s dedication against a clean energy system by 2030. The 480 MW West Burton Solar Power Plant of both Island Green Power will be established in Lincolnshire.
