With the two solar farms at Barkham unlikely to go ahead due to the lack of capacity in the local electricity transmission network, what contingency plan is there to save the 14,000 tCO2e that form a critical part of the net zero strategy?
Minutes:
With the two solar farms at Barkham unlikely to go ahead due to the lack of capacity in the local electricity transmission network, what contingency plan is there to save the 14,000 tCO2e that form a critical part of the net zero strategy?
Answer
The design and survey work for the solar farm project has been put on hold, not abandoned, pending the resolution of the connection issue which is a country-wide issue not exclusive to us.
There is strong evidence that the Government and the industry are aligned for, and working towards, significant reform of the UK grid connection process in the very near future and we have been and continue to be proactive in adding our voice to what that reform should look like.
Following the creation of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Government’s manifesto, ‘Powering Up Britain’ was published which sets out a goal to quintuple solar power and fully decarbonise the power system by 2035.
The Energy Networks Association (ENA) published a 3-step action plan to speed up the UK grid connection process and National Grid have published a five-point plan to speed up the current connections queue. A joint action plan between Ofgem and the Government is due this Summer on connections reform.
Ofgem identify that through the plans, it is expected that the majority of existing projects will see significant improvements in connection dates, especially those that are shovel ready such as Barkham solar farm.
The signs are therefore that significant reform to the connection process is imminent; reform that it is anticipated will impact significantly and positively upon the timely delivery of the Barkham Solar Farm project.
As you should be aware, the climate emergency action plan, even with all the measures in there, will not reach carbon neutrality by 2030. Should we have any other projects that could save equivalent levels of carbon emissions, we would rather they were in the plan and not being held in reserve. This is not a case of either/or. That being said, the lack of statutory powers and resource for local authorities to tackle the climate emergency limits our capacity and I would implore you to help lobby government to provide local government with these much needed powers and the resource that goes with it.
Supplementary Question:
I hopefully share your enthusiasm for the connection coming in earlier than we have been told, but it is still not going to be ready for summer 2024 when it was originally scheduled to be providing power, and getting revenue into the Council. So, what impact do you think is the anticipated delay going to have on the cost of producing or installing a solar farm, with high inflation at the moment, and a high increase in building costs? It is likely to be a lot more expensive than £26.8million currently in the Budget.
Supplementary Answer:
Firstly, it was always going to be connected in I think it was August 2026, I think certainly the late summer/autumn 2026, was the connection date which we had agreed in April 2022 with the District Network Operator. In terms of funding for this we obviously contracted with Bouygues. We have an agreement in our contract of the ability to have a six month break with no increased costs during that time. We are using that break currently. Bouygues have been absolutely brilliant I would like to say, in how they have worked with us, and are being very understanding. We are obviously not their only customer in this circumstance. We are not at that stage yet where we are at the end of the six month period. It is highly likely we will have a new connection date before that happens, but should that not be the case we will have those discussions. We are discussing this at the Barkham Solar Farm Project Board, which your colleague Rebecca Margetts is on, and we have had these discussions as well as with officers, and she can verify what I have just said.