Akeman Solar Park and BESS

Oxfordshire, UK

Traffic will use the B4022 from the A40.  

The Climate Emergency, the cost of living crisis and the energy crunch are all linked by how we generate, use and supply energy. We urgently need to generate energy from new, low cost, low carbon sources and solar is the lowest cost and quickest to deploy of all energy sources. It is currently one-ninth the cost of gas and less than one third of the cost of nuclear.

Solar power is already yielding tangible results. For instance, during the period from June to August in 2022, solar power frequently contributed up to 25% of the UK’s daytime electricity (according to the National Grid ESO carbon app).

Even in winter, solar panel technology is still effective; at one point in February 2022, solar was providing more than 20% of the UK’s electricity (According to the National Grid).

Solar power is a core part of the Governments’ Net Zero target, and it intends to more than triple solar power capacity by 2030.

Achieving this objective requires the deployment of larger scale solar farms as well as on the rooftops of industrial and residential buildings.

Assist West Oxfordshire District Council to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with local and national targets. SBC declared a Climate & Ecological Emergency in June 2019.

Assist a secure and stable supply of electricity to help meet the Government’s target of net zero by 2050. 

Enhancement to biodiversity – net gain of at least 60% (minimum government net gain required 10%). This is usually done through the planting of new hedgerows, gapping up of existing ones and planting wildflower meadows.

Temporary development – infrastructure will be removed, and agricultural use reinstated. If granted consent, decommissioning of the site is guaranteed as part of the planning condition.

Generation of Business Rates to Local Council – additional income can be used by the Council to fund local services. 

Given that the site is temporary, and farming activity is hard on the land, the fallow years brought about by the provision of solar on the site will provide will contribute to improving the soil quality and the condition of the land for agriculture in the future.

Battery energy storage sites are not usually audible above ambient noise- levels. The battery energy storage has been located sensitively away from residents. 

The Lithium-Ion batteries that will be used in the project are not reliant on scarce raw materials. There are established recycling processes for recovering the most common elements used in battery construction – cobalt, nickel, lithium and manganese – for re-use.

The proposals would have an operational lifespan of 30 years. Following this the Solar PV arrays would be decommissioned, and the land could be returned to agricultural use.

Ecological enhancements to the site will be achieved through maintaining existing hedgerows and surrounding vegetation, and the creation of wildlife grassland, thereby improving the existing landscape features in and around the site. These measures will be explored in greater detail in collaboration with the Council throughout the consultation period.

There is currently an urgent need for alternatives to expensive, polluting fossil fuels in the UK. The need for renewable power across the UK is crucial for the UK’s future energy security.

The UK Food Security Report (2021) found that “the biggest medium to long term risk to the UK’s domestic production comes from climate change and other environmental pressures like soil degradation, water quality and biodiversity”. Solar farms currently account for 0.08% of total land use in the UK (Solar Energy UK 2022). The Government targets for a fivefold increase in solar would result in 0.3% of the UK land area being used by solar (Carbon Brief, 2022). This is the equivalent to around half of the space used by golf courses.