By Rashleigh MacFarlane
Controversial plans for a huge solar farm at Kestle Mill, near Newquay, return to County Hall next week.
An application to develop 270 acres of Tregonning Farm had been due to come before Cornwall’s strategic planning committee before Christmas, but officials seized on a cold snap to postpone a meeting of councillors. Some of Cornwall’s roads were icy.
Now a rescheduled meeting is due to be held on Monday 16th January.
If approved, nearly 200 acres would be for solar panels and the rest for associated infrastructure, such as invertors and battery storage. The site is between Quintrell Downs and Fraddon and would require a five-mile power cable to link it to national grid at Indian Queens.
The application is for: “the construction and operation of a solar photovoltaic farm with battery storage and associated infrastructure, including inverters, substations, security cameras, fencing, access tracks and landscaping.”
The applicants say the solar farm would generate enough electricity to power 17,000 homes.
St Newlyn East parish council is objecting to the proposal, despite the offer of £2,000 in community benefit for each megawatt installed. The site could generate up to nearly 50MW.
Locally, opinions appear divided between those who welcome the additional climate-friendly energy security and those who fear the visual impact and the loss of high-grade agricultural land.
St Enoder and Colan parish councils are supporting the application while St Dennis parish council is objecting.
Cornwall has seen the development of a number of large solar farms in recent years, some of them eventually owned by overseas investors.
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That is a crying shame. Given the angle of the sun in our latitudes over the winter they actually deliver precious little. The Capacity Factor (power delivered over the year as percentage of the rating of the plant) is only about 11% in the UK, thanks to our latitude. It is 28% for onshore wind.
Using the largest wind turbines about 3 of them would produce as much as this 54ha solar farm.
It seems we are also being lied to: According to operator Statkraft the Greybarn solar farm should deliver electricity for 9200 homes over 44ha, the Kestle Mill one supposedly will supply 17.000 homes over 54ha. That is 85% more electricity for 25% more space. Unlikely. The figures given for these plants seem deliberately cloudy and are substandard when it comes to facts.
If they continue sheep grazing it would be an improvement, but as much as I know this is still in trial stage. (sheep causing damage, legal issues re responsibilities, etc.)
In any case, wind turbines are the much better alternative, and they allow farming all around them.
The reason they are not considered is that Cameron basically banned all onshore wind development by changing the rules so one single objection would stop the project.
The same rule would certainly have stopped this solar farm development.