A village in east Sussex has set out plans for a new solar park development, as sustainable energy company Susenco looks to move to the area.

Batbrooks Farm, in the village of Berwick, could see a solar panel development of 28 hectares, with the arrangement expected to remain on site for the next 27 years. Once this time is up, the land will be returned to agricultural area.

The development could be the second of its type in the east Sussex area, after plans for a 23-hectare solar scheme in Wilbees Farm Arlington have also been put into place.

Public consultation for the Berwick scheme looks to begin sometime this year and the first stage of planning will see proposals under investigation from Wealden District Council.

The intention is to discover whether or not the site would require an environmental assessment before work is carried out.
Chief executive officer of Susenco Neil Mather said: "The UK has a binding target to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. The government is announcing new nuclear power and new gas fired power stations, just as gas prices rise for all of us."

With this is mind, Mr Mather has recommended that solar farms and other solar products, including domestic ones, could be the way forward. However, for larger scale developments, he said a solar farm can be more efficient.

"They [solar farm panels] can be oriented to capture the sun, and its more cost effective to do a large space in one go. This scheme will generate the equivalent power of 6,000 solar roofs,” he told the Sussex Express.

It is expected that the scheme will be able to save around 214,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in its 27 year lifetime. This has the potential to massively contribute to UK renewable and climate change targets.