Village solar farm applies for diesel generators as back-up

THE company that built Roundponds Farm Solar Farm at Norrington, near Broughton Gifford, has applied for permission to install 10 diesel generators on the site – but the plans have already drawn sharp criticism.

The plans propose a 2,400sqm compound be set up on part of the solar farm, to house five pairs of standby generators, three transformers, an equipment store and three 30,000 litre fuel storage tanks.

The application predicts that the plant, designed to provide emergency electricity when the National Grid is under pressure, could use 218,000 litres of diesel per year.

Broughton Gifford resident Martin Freeman is outraged and concerned that the plan could set a precedent. He said, “This application is outrageous. Diesel farms are dirty, noisy and ugly. They have no place in the countryside.

“Storing 90,000 litres of diesel with no additional protection or drainage looks like a recipe for disaster, especially in an area which is prone to flooding.  It’s bad enough covering green fields with solar panels, but putting polluting power-plants  next to them just adds insult to injury.

“We know from experience that once you build something like this, it will expand and  others will follow. We also know that Wiltshire Council doesn’t enforce breaches of planning conditions. So the only way to ensure that it is safe and not the first of many  is not to build it.

“We are subsidising renewable energy because it is clean and reduces our reliance on oil. Then we pay even greater subsidies for diesel farms because the renewable energy is unreliable.  You couldn’t make it up.”

The applicant, Roundponds Energy Ltd, included an open letter to local councillors and residents in the application, which explains the need for the generators. The letter explains that the fossil-fuel powered generators will provide back-up energy for the National Grid when demand is too high.

It reads, “While derived from sustainable sources, most renewable generation is intermittent and unreliable by nature, so plants such as this new one are required to ensure the lights stay on when, for example, the wind does not blow.”

The letter also tells residents that “realistically the units are only planned to operate for a few hours each year.” The design specification submitted with the application, however, predicts that “the total annual running is estimated to be approximately 110 hours”.

The planning application is open for public consultation until Friday 30th October. To find out more or to register your comments, visit www.wiltshire.gov.uk and enter 15/08809/FUL in the planning search.