Environmentalist says mega solar farm proposals for Swaffham and surrounding areas ‘shouldn’t be dismissed’

Controversy has surrounded proposals to build the UK’s biggest solar farm in Swaffham and surrounding areas.

Many have expressed their concerns about a mega solar farm, which would be big enough to power 363,000 homes, including Swaffham Town Council.

RWE, an international renewable energy company, has proposed to build a 720-megawatt (MW) solar farm with integrated battery storage which would be located across 4,000 acres of land on five sites in parts of Swaffham and Breckland.

However, environmentalist Thomas Shields, who lives near Swaffham, has expressed his favour for the proposal.

Mr Shields wrote to the Lynn News as to why he believes the solar farm would be beneficial and said the following…

In the spirit of providing some balance onslaught faced by the solar farms proposed near Swaffham, I am going to try and act as a bit of a devil’s advocate.

Now, High Grove is certainly a big solar farm and my jaw half dropped when I read that this 4,000 acre project would be fifteen times larger than Llanwern solar park in Wales, currently the UK's largest (at around 260 acres).

However, as a local environmental consultant who has spent nearly 10 years studying and working in the environment and sustainability sectors, I believe the opposition to these projects is misplaced; we should embrace these solar farms as a means of curing ourselves of our Russian gas addiction and pursuing a sustainable future.

At a recent meeting of Swaffham Town Council, there seems to be near unanimous opposition to these new solar farms. Based on the Lynn News’ reporting of this meeting, it appears that their opposition hinges on the loss of decent arable farmland. So let's dig into that.

Firstly, while 4,000 acres sounds like a large amount, it actually constitutes just 0.3%* of Norfolk's total land area - all in all a small plot of land. There are reports that the amount of electricity generated by this site (forecasted as 720 MW) would be enough to power 80% of Norfolk’s homes.

Even if we presume this is overly enthusiastic marketing and the actual figure much lower than that, say 40%, then this still means that for around 1% of Norfolk’s land area we could power 100% of the county’s residential electricity requirements with cheap solar power.

In the long run this would be amazing news for Norfolk’s consumers and would result in minimal food production loss. Furthermore, the project brochure indicates that up to 95% of the project land can still be used for sheep grazing, so food can still be produced from this area (source).

*Norfolk is 5,384 km2 or 538,400 hectares, which is 1,330,415 acres. 4,000 acres is 0.3% of 1,330,415 acres.

Swaffham’s Deputy Mayor Lindsey Beech stated during the aforementioned town council meeting that "It is tough enough for farmers as it is”.

Well, I respectfully counter that these projects will have only been proposed on land where there is full support from the owning farmer, otherwise the farmer would just say no.

Farmers love to rent out bits of their land for solar power because they can take in healthy quantities of cash - up to £1,000 per acre per year (source).

This vastly outweighs potential revenues from crops or livestock and represents a vital cash flow for our beleaguered food producers, allowing them to weather the natural hazards that damage crops and hit their incomes.

This income can also free up cash to invest in much-needed capital upgrades, making their farms more productive and profitable.

Other key reasons for local opposition to solar farms are that they will ‘industrialize the countryside’, represent an eyesore, and reduce property valuations. However, even these fears may be misplaced.

This large project is actually a series of separate smaller solar farms - likely over 10 by my count - spread across 4 or 5 towns / villages.

They are so far apart that, if you can see one, you won't be able to see the others. So we are not talking about a vast industrial installation that will submerge some hapless Norfolk village in aesthetic and property price purgatory, but rather a series of normal-sized farms whose impact is spread across a reasonably large area - this impact is more than manageable.

Swaffham Town Council’s apparent near-unanimous opposition to the farms is also odd given you won't actually be able to see them from anywhere in Swaffham town.

The solar farm to the immediate north of Swaffham (this part of the project will be about 1,000 acres in size) will be located beyond the A47 bypass (well away from any homes) and on either side of the A1065.

I drive along this road often and it's a fairly nondescript piece of road - all you can see are hedges and trees, which won't be moved if the solar panels are put in. As a result, drivers will be none the wiser regarding the clean energy project located just meters away.

The project brochure also states that several kilometres of new hedgerows and trees will be planted to create ‘visual screening’ that further shields the panels from view. Out of sight, out of mind - the more you study this project, the more it makes sense.

Plus, while the countryside around Swaffham is great, the proposed site areas do not have ecological or aesthetic designations - by building in this part of the countryside, we can alleviate any pressure on landscapes that have been assigned higher aesthetic and ecological value, like the North Norfolk National Landscape, the Broads or Britain’s National Parks.

By supporting these solar farms, at relatively low cost Norfolk can do its bit for the climate - the UK is one the richest countries in the world and we ought to lead by example.

If we do not act on climate change the near future will not look pretty. In the process, we can reduce our energy bills and exposure to natural gas price shocks, spending our money on fun stuff instead - perhaps on a trip to the Brisley Bell or Newton’s George and Dragon.

Lastly - the great thing about solar panels is that they are ‘modular’. They are easy to install and easy to remove.

If, in 40 years at the end of the proposed project lifetime we no longer need this solar farm because everyone has put cheap solar panels on their rooftops, we can pack up the solar panels and ship them to the recycling factory - with no dodgy chemicals left in the soil, or massive buildings to demolish.

Of course, there are good ways to build solar farms and bad ways to build solar farms.

Whether RWE is taking a good or bad approach will emerge as more planning documents become available and we learn more about how they will interact with locals.

If they propose ripping out hedgerows and refuse to compensate local residents for any proposed damages or property value losses, then we should definitely take a step back and recalculate the benefits and costs.

However, the economic and energy opportunities offered by these potential solar farms is too great to dismiss out of hand.

The sooner we build out solar farms across England and end our need for fossil fuel power, the sooner we can stop buying oil and gas from dubious overseas governments, who use our hard-earned money for often questionable and sometimes horrific ends.