Solar energy developer Enso Energy has received planning permission from two councils for a 49.9 MW solar power plant in the south of England.
The Denmead Solar Farm, located on 87 hectares of land under the jurisdiction of East Hampshire County Council and Winchester City Council, has been approved by both relevant bodies for an operational life of 40 years. Although initial proposals for the project, submitted in 2022, included plans for a battery energy storage system (BESS), this was dropped in the ultimately approved development plan after consultants raised concerns about the fire risk of BESS systems and the potential for groundwater contamination if the system were to fail.
Following the approval of the development, further conditions for the approval of the plan have been set by East Hampshire County Council. These include preparing a management plan for remedial measures in the event of a solar panel failure to prevent groundwater contamination and conducting a post-installation noise assessment within three months of the project coming into service.
According to Enso Energy, the development will deliver a net biodiversity gain of 56%, and will allow sheep grazing to continue under and around the 91,840 solar panels that will be installed on the eight plots in the development.
Although a start date for construction has not yet been announced, Enso Energy states that construction will take seven months. The solar power plant will be connected to the local Lovedean substation.
According to local news reports, councilors’ views were initially mixed on the development proposals, with councilor Nick Drew criticizing the development as an “industrialisation of the countryside” and councilor David Ashcroft stating: “We have to do it, it’s very important.” .
A strong year for Enso Energy
This is not the first planning victory that Enso Energy has achieved this year. In July, Secretary of State Matthew Pennycook granted planning permission for the 23MW Honiley Road Solar Farm after it was “revoked” by the previous Secretary of State. The development also includes a 57 MW BESS.
Enso Energy also enjoyed great success during the most recent Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction round, Allocation Round 6 (AR6). The developer has secured CfDs for four of its solar projects, totaling 164 MW. AR6 set new records for the solar industry, with 93 ground-based solar projects totaling 3.3 GW of capacity upon landing during the auction round. Solar achieved a strike price of £50.07/MWh for AR6, well above the £47/MWh of AR5.
