Solar farm plans lodged

A solar farm which could power thousands of homes could be built on farmland on the edge of Blackpool.

If the scheme gets the go ahead it would see land to the east of Peel Road developed to construct a 14 hectare solar farm producing enough renewable energy to supply electricity to 4,465 homes a year.

Lytham-based Energi Generation Ltd has applied to Fylde Council for planning permission for the scheme, with the facility set to operate for up to 40 years.

The site has been chosen partly because it would be able to link to the national electricity grid via a substation at Peel, and help to meet national targets to harness renewable energy and cut carbon emissions.

The solar farm would be unstaffed, and remotely operated and monitored with periodic visits for the purposes of maintenance and cleaning of the solar panels. At the end of its operational lifespan the site would be decommissioned and can revert back to agricultural use.

Documents submitted by Enzygo environmental consultants on behalf of the application say the solar farm would generate around 13 megawatts of power at its peak.

This would help “to further grow Fylde’s and the UK’s much-needed renewable energy portfolio, thereby reducing the nation’s dependency on fossil fuels, enhancing energy security and reducing the UK’s carbon emissions.”

The solar farm would be developed alongside a battery energy
storage system, which has already got planning permission, enabling the energy which is generated from the solar farm to be stored within the battery
system and then released during peak demand.

Proposals were also submitted last year to Fylde Council for the development of a 25 hectare solar farm on land south of the main runway at Blackpool Airport.

Screening documents set out a project which could be operational by the end of this decade and would generate enough power to enable Blackpool Council to reduce its overall net electricity consumption by up to 75 per cent.

If it gets the go ahead, it will help the airport meet its energy bills and also support the next generation of sustainable hybrid/electric battery-powered aircraft.

The Peel Farm scheme (reference 25/0113) and the Blackpool Airport scheme (reference 24/0478) are both under consideration.