Solar industry body hits back at council opposition

Solar Energy UK says farmland solar is crucial

The trade body for the UK's solar power industry says Derbyshire County Council's opposition to solar farms on agricultural land is based on ideas which sometimes "are at a tangent to reality".

Councillors voted overwhelmingly this month to oppose solar projects on farmland across Derbyshire calling them "Chinese-manufactured eco deserts".

But Solar Energy UK says the schemes improve biodiversity, create jobs and are crucial for providing the green energy the country needs.

One major solar farm scheme in South Derbyshire has been approved by the government over the last 12 months and planning applications have been submitted for five other locations.

Land near Arleston is one of five areas in South Derbyshire where solar farms have been proposed

The area's Labour MP, Samantha Niblett, said her constituency has been "inundated" with solar farm applications on agricultural land.

Reform-led Derbyshire County Council, backed by the opposition Conservatives, have passed a motion opposing the schemes anywhere in the county.

The county council does not make decisions on most planning applications, but leader Alan Graves said he hoped the motion would make political parties "sit up and think".

However, industry trade body, Solar Energy UK, has said it believes Derbyshire County Council's position is misguided.

Senior Communications Advisor Gareth Simkins said: "Solar farms provide the cheapest power available to the UK.

"Natural gas creates high energy bills and to get ourselves off natural gas we need to ramp up renewables as soon and as fast as possible."

Solar farms can be wildlife havens according to Gareth Simkins of Solar Energy UK

Mr Simkins added the notion solar farms create "eco deserts" was at "an absolute tangent from reality."

"We have repeatedly found that solar farms are havens for wildlife, not least because they're not drenched in pesticides and fertiliser," he said.

"They are havens for the rarest of birds and mammals and other species, and I've seen that again and again not just from ecological surveys, not just from scientific reports, but with my own eyes."

Solar Energy UK said the vast bulk of solar manufacturing is based in China, but most of the jobs in the industry are local and involve installing and maintaining the solar farms.

The disused Willington power station provides connections to the power grid

County councillors from Reform UK, the Conservatives and the Green Party all agreed when they passed the motion opposing solar farms that they would prefer panels to be installed on the rooftops of warehouses and homes.

However, a series of reports from government and industry say the say the power grid is not ready for local smaller scale power generation.

Solar Energy UK said there are still connections to the grid in place at disused coal-fired power stations like those at Drakelow and Willington, both of which are in South Derbyshire, which is an attraction for companies which want to install solar farms and battery storage systems on open land.

Harvie Agnew, Senior Policy Advisor to Solar Energy UK said, "I think the public are perhaps rightfully concerned about food security given current global political situations but to meet the government's targets [for solar on rooftops and open land] it's only something like 0.2% of UK land.

"In terms of agricultural land, that would still only equate to something like 0.4% and I believe there are more golf courses in this country."