Potential solar farm north of Hanwell

Up to 49.9 Megawatts could be generated on land at the Hanwell Estate

A solar farm delivering enough electricity for approximately 15,657 homes could be built on land to the north of Hanwell.   A request for pre-application advice has been submitted to Cherwell District Council by Elgin Energy EsCo Ltd.

The proposal would see solar panels mounted on around 80.5 hectares of land at Hanwell Estate, to the north of the village, mainly between the B4100 and the M40.  It would have an export capacity of up to 49.9 Megawatts and would save around 37,706 tonnes of CO2 emissions, in comparison to the same electricity demand with fossil fuel power.

The emission savings are equivalent to the amount of the carbon sequestered by 623,476 tree seedlings grown for 10 years.

Sheep grazing would continue in the fields around the solar panels.

The applicant says that planning permission would be sought on a temporary basis for the project’s lifetime of up to 40 years.   They add that at the end of the generating station’s operational life the solar farm would be decommissioned and the site returned to full agricultural use.

Cherwell District Council has set a target date of September 29 for consideration of the pre-application, for which Elgin says: “Overall, it is considered that there is an urgent need for the proposed development.”

Hanwell Parish Council is due to discuss the pre-application next Wednesday (September 7).

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Published: 01/09/2022 09:46am by Banbury FM Newsteam

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