More solar heads to Long Stratton and a raft of new BESS schemes, including at Sizewell
In this piece, I’ll pick up on some of the major entries on the Transmission Entry Capacity Register over the last few weeks.
I’ve not been actively blogging for the last several weeks as I’ve been focused on my fundraising efforts for Dog Valley Rescue Centre in Cyprus and training for our final 67-mile run across Suffolk, which we completed just over a week ago. You can read more about that on our Facebook page and in the East Anglian Daily Times here. Thank you so much to everyone who sponsored us so far, if you haven’t done so – and would like to – the sponsorship page will remain open here for a few days.
In this piece, I’ll pick up on some of the major entries on the Transmission Entry Capacity (TEC) Register over the last few weeks.
Over the late summer and early autumn, I highlighted some solar proposals from Noventum (460MW and circa 2,000 acres) at Long Stratton and Elmya (900MW and circa 4,500 acres) at Gissing. Both connect to the new “North Anglia Connection Node A 400kV” substation. Despite me raising it with them back in September, the local media have finally woken up to the scale of this and there has been coverage in the Eastern Daily Press (EDP).
Now, this week, two further schemes have been given connection offers to the North Anglia Connection Node A. Enso Green Holdings X Limited is proposing another 400MW solar farm with the project name Long Stratton 400. Using our usual benchmarks, this – like the Noventum scheme – will likely come in at around 2,000 acres. In addition, we have a 400MW Energy Storage System connection offer granted to Field Devco Ltd. Assessing land take for Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) is not straightforward, but a reasonable estimate would put a 400MW storage scheme at approximately 16 – 20 acres. Not nearly as vast as the solar proposals but, given the typical aesthetic, an example of which you’ll see further down this page, this is not insubstantial. Enso seem a relatively established player and you can view their website here. In terms of Field Devco Ltd, I can’t find a huge amount of information but they could well be a subsidiary, or UK development wing, of Field Energy. Both schemes have connection offers for 2034.
Taken together, the schemes from Noventum, Elmya, Enso and Field Devco could see approaching 9,000 acres of land developed in the Long Stratton area for new energy projects. I’ll stress once again, that we don’t yet know precisely where the North Anglia Connection Node A substation will be but, given the area these schemes are looking at, it’s clearly adjacent to Long Stratton and will, most likely, connect into the Norwich to Tilbury Pylon scheme, should it be consented. My prior entries on these pages set out more of this rationale.
In terms of other substantial connection offers made over the past few weeks, there are five further BESS schemes worth highlighting.
The first of these, which comes in at 1000MW, connects to the Yaxley 400kV substation and is proposed by NP SPV 40 Limited, whose name has now changed to Yaxley Energy Limited. The project name is National Power Yaxley Green Energy Park, which points to the scale of things to come at Yaxley – see my prior entries for a summary of the circa 13,000 acres of solar with connection offers in the area. This new BESS site would likely be around 40 – 50 acres in size. From experience, concerns about battery storage installations are not just about scale and impact on the landscape but, understandably given the BESS fire in Liverpool which took 59 hours to extinguish, focus on hazardous substance and fire management plans.
The second is mirror image, at Tilbury in Essex, connecting to a new “South Anglia Connection Node C 400kV Substation”. Once again, this is a new substation magically materialising along the yet to be consented Norwich to Tilbury pylon run. As at Yaxley, this is a 1000MW scheme and while it’s proposed by Natpower Marine UK Limited, their address is the same as NP SPV 40 Limited / Yaxley Energy Limited. The name too reflects that at Yaxley - NatPower Tilbury Green Energy Park.
There are two further BESS schemes, also at 1000MW, clearly from the same parent company, Natpower UK Limited (registered at the same Mayfair address), at Allington Green Energy Park and Immingham Green Energy Park. All four schemes have connection offers in 2034.
Another scheme which seems to have flown under the radar is at Sizewell in Suffolk. Proposed by Greenswitch Capital Limited, we have a 500MW energy storage scheme called Manor Farm given a connection offer to the Sizewell 400kV substation. Although not as large as the 1000MW schemes above, this is unlikely to be received well in an area already besieged by energy projects and adjacent to a National Landscape (formerly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). Manor Farm has a connection offer date of 2034 and you can read more about Greenswitch Capital on their website here.
Finally, it’s worth highlighting the 600MW Lightsource BP Amlwch BESS and Hydrogen scheme granted a connection offer at Wylfa South 400kV substation in Wales, with a connection offer for 2037.
It appears that East Anglia's many centuries of farming its beautiful and uncluttered countryside to feed a hungry nation are about to come to a sad end. Instead, vast areas of this once 'green and pleasant land' are to be given over to producing, storing and transmitting electricity - but only when the sun shines or the wind blows of course! We are the sacrificial lambs on the ill-conceived altar of 'Net Zero' - but we won't be going quietly!
All this outlines is a terrible plan of self harm. When energy is most needed these schemes versus the cost and materials will be virtually useless and unjustifiable even in the maddest of minds. We know subsidies from taxation, energy users are colossal and invite exploitation from unscrupulous corporate energy companies using legislation around net zero legislation to funnel money for their growth. Legislation around net zero has created a monster that can pillage or environment and farming and falsely call it renewable. This is wrong and the damage is an incredibly costly way to force growth and can only get a lot worse.