LETTER: The need for solar farms and local renewables

His figures come from Table 2 of the Clean Power 2030 (CP2030) Action Plan: Connections Reform Annexe. This is a technical annexe to the Government’s Clean Power 2030 report.

Solar PV can be connected to the grid at two levels. The top level is the transmission grid. This is the 400 kilovolt (kV) “super grid” that connects large power stations to grid supply points (GSP). There are very few GSPs across the country. Basingstoke has two at Bramley, and another one is in Fleet.

GSPs are connected to bulk supply points (BSP) and then on to sub-stations. The electricity station in Basing Road, by the private hospital, is a BSP. This is the second level of the grid, known as the distribution grid.

The distribution grid from the BSP operates at significantly lower voltages (33/11kV or lower). Almost all solar PV in the UK is connected to the distribution grid. This is because of cost. It is costly and technically challenging to connect to the 400kV network. Very few, except the very largest, solar PV farms will connect at this level.

The annexe that Cllr Minas-Bound quotes clearly states the figures are for transmission-connected solar only.

Reference is here gov.uk/government/publications/clean-power-2030-action-plan/clean-power-2030-action-plan-a-new-era-of-clean-electricity-connections-reform-annex#table-1.

Given that he has quoted these numbers, he must have seen Table 4 of the same document (on the same page). This indicates that the distribution-connected solar in our region must expand to 4,600 MW, incorporating 100 MW of wind and 1,200 MW of battery storage over the next 4.5 years.

He would have also seen (Table 1) that the CP2030 target is to nearly triple solar PV from a current 16.6GW to 45-47GW by 2030 and up to 69GW by 2035. As we electrify heat and transport, and we invest in AI and datacentres, the demand for electricity in Basingstoke will grow by three to five times the 2030 level by 2050.

This means we will need to generate a corresponding larger amount from local renewables, ie two to four times the 2030 level.

As far as I know, the loopholes in the planning regulation were closed by OFGEM last year. The gate 2 process is specifically designed to 'weed out' speculative applications and prioritise solar farms that meet CP2030 objectives. 

By the way, my best estimate for the amount of ground-mounted solar PV needed in Basingstoke is at least 500MW (along with 160MW of rooftop). This sounds a lot, but the area covered will be less than the area currently covered by golf courses.

We’ll need a couple of wind farms too.

Martin Heath

Old Basing

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