INRG Solar's 150MWp NSIP Little Crow Solar Farm gets green light

• INRG Solar has been approved a growth approval order (DCO) for its 150MWp Little Crow Solar Farm.

It is the second solar Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) to be granted such by the Planning Inspectorate, complying with on from the 350MW Cleve Hill Solar Farm, which was approved in May 2020. That has actually given that been acquired by Quinbrook as well as renamed Project Fortress, with building anticipated to start in H2 2022.

The Hampshire-based solar designer signed up the Little Crow Solar Farm-- which is marked as a NSIP due to being over 50MW-- in 2018, ahead of it being submitted to the Planning Inspectorate on 4 December 2020 and approved for Examination on 23 December 2020.

Since then, the general public as well as interested events have been able to give evidence on the recommended development, which has been taken into consideration by the Planning Inspectorate ahead of its recommendations. These were made to the Secretary of State, who granted development permission on 5 April 2022.

The solar farm website covers 226 hectares, with the selections including 356,670 photovoltaic panels set to cover 153 hectares of this. In addition to the solar energy, there will be a battery energy storage system (BESS) installed onsite, with output of approximately 90MW.

Little Crow Solar Farm, which is located in Lincolnshire, about 2.5 kilometres northwest of the town of Broughton as well as directly to the eastern of the British steelworks at Scunthorpe, is anticipated to have a life-span of 35 years.

Rate of interest in solar NSIP's has grabbed over the last couple of years, with 9 registered with the Planning Inspectorate. This includes Windel Energy as well as Canadian Solar's 350MW Mallard Pass Solar Farm, Ecotricity's Heckington Fen Solar Park, Evolution Power's 165MW solar as well as storage in Kent, Low Carbon's 500MW Gate Burton solar and energy storage park in Lincolnshire, Island Green Power's 600MW solar project, Longfield Solar Energy Farm in Essex and BayWa r.e.'s 163MW Oaklands Solar Farm.