The proposed solar farm could cover 24 hectares of agricultural land

A new solar farm could be built in a Cambridgeshire village. AGR Renewables proposes to build a solar development with battery storage on land off Ness Road in Burwell.

In total, the site will be around 24 hectares. It will include solar panels up to 3m high, battery storage, a control building, security fencing, CCTV cameras, access tracks and other related infrastructure.

If approved, it would be up for 40 years. This would then be decommissioned and the site would return to agricultural use.

In its EIA screening request, the developer said: “The proposed development would facilitate the generation of renewable energy and this would conserve natural resources that would otherwise be used to generate power.

“Whilst the solar panels, frames and ancillary equipment would use natural resources during construction this would not be in significant quantities that could have wider significant environmental impacts, with many of the components such as the panel supports and the glass of the photovoltaic panels constructed from recyclable materials.”

If approved, the solar farm would not produce “significant waste” during its construction or operation. The proposed site is also not near homes. East Cambridgeshire District Council has approved previous plans for energy-related applications next to the Ness Road site.

The closest, which is around 2.6km away, is part of the “nationally significant” Sunnica Energy Solar Farm project. This solar farm will cover around 2,500 acres of solar panels and battery storage.

Energy secretary Ed Miliband approved plans for this solar farm in summer 2024. It is proposed to be across four sites, including Mildenhall and West Row, Freckenham and Worlington, and in East Cambridgeshire, close to Newmarket.

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