About
Tween Bridge Solar Farm comprises a solar farm capable of generating over up to 800MW of Alternating Current (AC) electricity with a co-located 400MW Battery Energy Storage System (“BESS”).
The site is located within the Yorkshire and Humber regions and spans approximately 2,527 hectares, centred at approximately 10 kilometres to the northeast of Doncaster and 14 kilometres to the west of Scunthorpe. Tween Bridge Solar Farm is located next to RWE Renewables’ existing Tween Bridge Wind Farm.
RWE Renewables UK Solar and Storage Limited have accepted a grid connection offer from National Grid. The connection date to the new National Grid substation is currently scheduled to be in 2029. This is subject to construction of the new substation and completion of the necessary grid reinforcement works by National Grid.
National Grid will be developing its own proposals and consenting for the substation separately. The location of the new substation is still to be confirmed and is dependent on technical, design, and environmental factors being considered.
Location
Progress to date
We are grateful for the feedback and questions that have been provided so far. All feedback received has been analysed and considered by the project team. A Non-Statutory Consultation Report has been prepared following the consultation which can be found ‘here’. The Report summarises the feedback received to date and explains how the scheme has evolved in response to the consultation.
Some of the actions we took following non-statutory consultation are listed below:
Amendments made to the draft Order Limits. This includes the addition and removal of land from the Scheme for renewable energy infrastructure and ecological enhancement areas, as well as the inclusion of the National Grid Substation and RWE Underground Export Cable Route Assessment Area, and inclusion of construction accesses. A plan showing the evolution of the Scheme can be viewed below.
The Applicant has also visited a number of the private residential properties, following requests from residents. This has resulted in amending the Scheme’s layout to positively respond to feedback from local residents. This feedback has also informed and enhanced the Landscape Strategy for the Scheme to mitigate against potential visual amenity impact which can be viewed HERE.
Amended the Scheme’s layout in response to the flooding data. This has resulted in a combination of both tracking and fixed solar panels across the Scheme. Similarly, the location of the Scheme’s substations have evolved in response to the ecological strategy and flood risk data for the site.
Prepared an enhanced ecology mitigation and enhancement strategy in consultation with the local authorities and Natural England.
Completed additional studies to inform the PEIR accompanying the statutory consultation, following the advice of prescribed consultees.
Retained proposals for EV vehicle charging points in response to feedback expressing views in favour of EV charging points.
Permissive pathways and a bird viewing gallery have been introduced to the Scheme in response to feedback from the local community regarding access into the Site. While the open spaces to be used for ecology mitigation cannot be publicly accessible in order to serve their purpose as areas for wintering bird mitigation, the introduction of permissive pathways around the Site and a bird viewing gallery was considered an appropriate means to address feedback concerning access to the Site.
Increased the total Community Benefit Fund from £2m to £12.8m across the operational lifetime of the project.*
*the total value of the community benefit will be subject to the final installed capacity of the project and the route to market secured by the project.
Increased energy generation output to 800MW, equivalent to powering 370,000 homes.
Scheme evolution plan
Click the image above to zoom in.
Decision making
As the project will generate over 50MW of electricity, it is classed as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP). As a result, we are required to submit a Development Consent Order (DCO) application to the Planning Inspectorate to seek planning permission.
More information is available HERE in our Frequently Asked Questions.