Solar power plans for Holbeach St Matthew site

A solar farm which would be able to provide power to at least 10,000 homes is being planned for a site in Holbeach St Matthew.

If approved, Green Energy International (GEI)'s site at Caudwell Solar Farm will cover around 115 hectares and will be utilised for solar energy production and livestock grazing simultaneously.

GEI says the site will provide up to 49.9MW of clean, renewable, solar power and the company aims to have the farm built in early 2022.

The farm will be connected to the national grid through a short cable route into powerlines, which takes the electricity into the Walpole substation. From that point the power is spread around the local area to where it is required most.

The site will be operational for at least 25 years, subject to the length of the lease agreement between the landowner and the solar farm operators.

The company says that the level of disruption on the local community is minimal as the farm doesn't emit noise when operational and glint and glare effects have been taken into consideration.

The only time there is a possibility of some disruption is during the construction phase, which is taking place on private land and no other landowners would be impacted.

Any footpaths within the project boundaries will be improved with benches and information boards on local nature.