Public consultation announced on new solar farm which could power 17,000 homes

Proposals for a new solar energy farm across farmland south of the M20 and north east of Aldington will be open for public consultation from Monday 12 July to Monday 9 August 2021.

The proposed East Stour Solar Farm is being brought forward by EDF Renewables UK. It has the potential to generate up to 49.9MW of renewable electricity, enough to meet the equivalent needs of approximately 17,000 homes in the Borough of Ashford every year*.

This is the first of two stages of public consultation, with the second expected to follow later this year. EDF Renewables UK wants to hear people’s views at an early stage in the design process to inform its detailed plans for the solar farm.

EDF Renewables UK, through its battery storage team Pivot Power, is also considering land between the proposed East Stour Solar Farm and Sellindge Substation for a battery energy storage system. This is likely to be as a separate planning application.

Local residents can find out more by viewing a virtual exhibition online, taking part in online Q&As or contacting the project team directly by calling Freephone 0800 0194 576 or by emailing east.stour@edf-re.uk  

James Lyons from EDF Renewables UK said: “We’re proposing East Stour Solar Farm to help the UK accelerate to net zero by delivering new sources of low carbon, renewable energy generation.

“We have ambitious plans to build five times as much renewable energy as we already manage and have a strong pipeline of projects in the UK, such as this one.

“We are looking forward to presenting our early design proposals to local people and hearing their feedback. We will be conducting a further round of public consultation later this year.”

Further information about the project is available here.

Notes to editors

*Based on European Commission, Photovoltaic GIS (PVGIS-SARAH) initial site production estimate and average domestic electricity consumption per Ashford Borough Council household (DBEIS, 2020). Numbers presented to three significant figures.

About EDF Renewables UK and Ireland

EDF Renewables UK and Ireland is a joint venture between two companies, EDF Energy (EDF’s UK business) and EDF Renewables Group (EDF’s global renewables business). EDF Renewables Group has more than 25 years’ worth of experience in delivering renewable energy projects in more than 20 countries around the world. EDF Renewables UK and Ireland has an operating portfolio of 37 wind farms and we are providing some of the much needed new affordable, low carbon electricity across all technologies. We have an expanding renewables portfolio with almost 5GW of projects in planning and development across wind, battery and solar and we have 600 MW currently under construction. We also have offices in Edinburgh, Rainton Bridge (near Durham), London and Dublin.

Pivot Power is part of EDF Renewables and is developing large-scale battery storage and electric vehicle charging infrastructure at 40 sites across the UK. This network will create up to 2GW of flexible capacity, which is essential to future-proof our electricity system and provide the power for mass-scale, rapid electric vehicle charging

For further information, please contact

Scott Harker

Scott.harker@secnewgate.co.uk

Ext: 020 3757 6843

Mob: 07918 589 150

Douglas Johnson

Douglas.johnson@secnewgate.co.uk

Ext:   020 3757 6747