National Grid says it will ‘shortly’ hold consultation on Weston Marsh substation scheme as Meridian Solar Farm reveals its ‘assumed location’ in latest consultation
Villagers will ‘shortly’ find out if a substation will be built near their homes after the company behind a massive solar farm has identified the ‘assumed location’.
National Grid says it is still developing its proposals to build up to two 400kv substations in Weston Marsh but a possible location for this development has been revealed by Meridian Solar Farm Ltd in its latest consultation documents.
According to the information booklet, the ‘assumed location’ of the substation will be on farmland off Wykeham Lane — in sight of Spalding Power Station — and could be visible to people living on the outskirts of Weston, who currently look over fields.
National Grid says a substation is needed in the Weston Marsh area for a number of energy projects, including the Grimsby to Walpole and Weston Marsh to East Leicestershire pylon schemes and the Meridian Solar Farm.
In a development the size of the entire village of Cowbit, a 750MW solar farm could be built on four parcels of land running between Crowland, Shepeau Stow and Sutton St Edmund - if the scheme is approved by the Government. Meridian Solar Ltd is a subsidiary of Downing Renewable Developments is running a consultation on this project and this ends today (October 22).
Villager and campaigner, Jenny Pennington, is urging people in Weston to take part in the Meridian consultation as the substation and its construction will have a big impact on the area.
She said: “The homes which face onto the A151 currently enjoy views of farmland but if these plans go ahead they could see a substation along with four sets of pylons.
“All the houses which face north could end up with a very different view.
“I would urge Weston people to take note because there are going to be a lot of changes coming. At the moment, they are burying their heads in the sand if they think they are not going to have a pylon in their backyard. But they need to be aware of the impact that this is going to have.
“There is going to be a phenomenal amount of traffic with material being brought in and building of haul roads.
“People need to take part in the Meridian consultation.”
Earlier this year National Grid outlined its plans to install 60km of new overhead power lines between its proposed Weston Marsh substation and East Leicestershire. A further substation is planned in Corby Glen as part of this scheme.
Substations are used to convert electricity into different voltages in order for it to be transmitted to homes and business across the country via pylons and cables.
The firm had also asked the public for their views on changes to the 140km line of pylons which are planned to run between Grimsby and Walpole, near King’s Lynn.
A spokesperson for National Grid said: “We are aware of Downing Renewables’ separate proposals for a connection at one of the substations proposed on our Grimsby to Walpole project.
“These proposals are not part of our projects in Lincolnshire, and we are not involved in their consultation.
“We continue to review feedback from our second stage of consultation held between June and August this year and shortly will consult on our more detailed plans at Weston Marsh.”
“At our stage two consultation between April and June this year, we showed a search area for the Weston Marsh substation, as the final location is to be identified by National Grid. This search area was reflective of the most up to date information presented by National Grid at the time of our stage two consultation taking place.
National Grid says the current electricity transmission network - previously built around coal fired power stations - needs to be upgraded to carry the volume of renewable energy which is being produced and the firm is proposing five new electricity transmission projects in Lincolnshire - which include the Eastern Green link cable projects.
A statement from Meridian Solar said: “Following further technical and environmental consideration, along with a review of all up-to-date publicly available information, we have now refined this to a smaller search area which we consider to be the most appropriate siting area for the substation and our point of connection.
“While the substation itself will be consented and delivered by NGET, which is normal practice, we will be identifying the assumed location in our application.”