Plans have been submitted for a solar farm west of York that hopes to produce enough power for 7,000 homes.
Poppleton Solar Ltd of London seeks to develop 55.9ha of farmland south of New Farm, Poppleton.
The scheme adds to another similar proposal in the area for a 50MW solar farm on 61.3ha between Hessay and Rufforth.
Poppleton Solar Ltd is a division of Ampyr Solar Europe UK Holdings Ltd, which began in 2020 and has operations across Europe, with projects also in Germany and the Netherlands, as well as other parts of the UK.
Its principal shareholders are based in New York and Singapore and it has a 400 million Euro facility to deliver 2GW of solar projects by 2025.
READ MORE:
- Ampyr Solar Europe seeks views on New Farm scheme at Poppleton
- Hessay Solar Ltd seek 61.3ha scheme between Hessay and Rufforth
Plans submitted to City of York Council also say the site, 600m west of Upper Poppleton, is split into a 22ha site, a 29ha site and would be connected by 4.9ha of access route and cable route.
The scheme aims to generate 32MW of power and would operate for 30 years.
If approved, it would feature a ground mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) array with associated infrastructure, including housing for inverters, transformers and electrical equipment as well as fencing, security cameras, cabling and access tracks, site access and other ancillary works including landscaping.
The modules would about 0.8 to 1m above the ground, with access to the northern land parcel (A) on the south-eastern corner of the site with access to the southern parcel (B) on its northern site boundary about 765m from the junction of Lords Land and Common Croft Lane.
It is also proposed to improve the existing Lords Lane/ Common Croft Lane junction to allow 2-way HGV movement. It is also proposed to widen Lords Lane to create passing lanes to allow 2-way HGV movement before it is restored to its original state.
The planning application also says the scheme was amended following public consultation. Other sites in the area had been discounted due to their nearness to housing, visual impact, flood risk and the availability of land.
It said: “From the outset, the Proposed Development layout has been designed to maximise renewable energy yield, whilst maintaining effective offsets from identified constraints.”
Recommending approval, it added: “The final layout has been informed by a robust environmental assessment, consultation, stakeholder engagement, and design iteration process, taking into account physical constraints, potential environmental, landscape and visual impacts and their effects. The information used to inform the design iteration process included consultation responses received, baseline data and the impact assessment undertaken.
“The Proposed Development layout is considered to represent the most appropriate design, taking into account potential environmental and local community impacts and physical constraints, while maximising the renewable energy generating capability of the site.
“Overall, the Proposed Development is an appropriately designed, sensibly located, and completely sustainable development which is in line with policies in the local and strategic development plans and conforms to national policy.”
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