British Solar Renewables (BSR) has launched a community consultation with regard to plans for the Hooton Pagnell Renewable Park, a proposed development of Zonne-Plus-Plus-Storage near Doncaster.
The proposed development will be on 94 hectares of land near the village of Hooton Pagnell, South Yorkshire, and will supply a 49.9 MW solar -PV energy power plant in combination with a 30 MW battery energy storage system (BESS).
According to the developer, the project will prevent more than 17,410 tonnes of co2 Emissions every year when the building permit is granted. BSR also notes that the project will yield at least 60% net profit for biodiversity, with plans to develop new nature habitats and a tree belt in the area around the solar and battery equipment. It is expected that grazing of sheep will also continue between the PV panels for solar energy to support local agriculture.
BSR has now opened a community consultation for the project between 16 June and 14 July, in which locals are invited to submit their feedback on the proposals. The developer also organizes two open community events: a personal drop-in event on Tuesday 24 June and an online webinar on Thursday 26 June.
After this consultation, BSR will work to complete the design of the project prior to submitting a planning application at the end of August this year. A decision about if the building permit has to be granted is expected at the last end of 2026; If approved, construction is expected to start in 2034.
Hayley Burke, project manager at BSR, expressed her enthusiasm for the input of the community on the proposals and stated: “We encourage the community to participate in our consultation and to share their local knowledge and views on our proposals before the project design was completed and a submitted planning request.”
The news came shortly after the announcement that BSR had taken over a Solar PV National Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) from INRG. The Little Crow Solar-Plus-Storage project, located in Lincolnshire, will contain a 150 MWP solar installation plus a 60 MW Bess, which has been given the planning permission by the Planning Inspectorate in 2022 and also a contract for difference (CFD) in the autumn 2024 auction.
BSR will build and serve the project, but there is no date before the start or end of the construction unveiled by the developers. The Little CROW project is the largest in the BSR portfolio, which has more than 700 MWp in total worldwide.
