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EDF Renewables and Padero Solar have revealed proposals to build a 350MW solar array on land near Chelmsford in Essex.
The partners also intend to install a battery storage system alongside the solar farm and have already secured a transmission connection agreement for the import or export of up to 500MW of power.
EDF and Padero said the Longfield solar farm is expected to have a generation capacity of 350MW but stressed that the project remains at the early stage of development.
However, if built to this size, the installation would become one of the two largest solar farms in the UK – the other being the 350MW Clive Hill solar farm proposed by Hive Energy and Wirsol Energy in Kent, which was granted a development consent order in May.
As a nationally significant project with a generation capacity of at least 50MW, the Longfield solar farm will likewise need to obtain a development consent order from the secretary of state for energy before construction can begin.
The developers said they will release more information over the autumn as part of the first of two public consultations on the project.
Mark Vyvyan-Robinson, UK director of solar and onshore wind development for EDF Renewables, said: “This is an excellent site for a renewable project incorporating solar and battery storage; it is suitably sunny and has a connection on site to the National Grid network.
“Together, we have significant experience in developing and operating large scale renewable energy projects. Longfield Solar Farm will enable us to contribute to the country’s green economic recovery from Covid-19 and shows we are committed to helping Britain achieve net zero.”
EDF also announced plans to “massively increase” the size of its renewable business, whilst funnelling £50 billion of investment into the UK by 2035. In a new report, the company said the investment would deliver 12GW of new nuclear, wind and solar capacity, including the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant currently under construction in Somerset and its proposed sister project at Sizewell C in Suffolk.
The company said it currently has 1GW of renewable generation in operation across 36 sites in the UK, as well as 600MW in construction and almost 4GW in planning and development, adding: “We see the UK as one of the world’s best markets for growth in renewables and plan to massively increase the size of our renewables business in the coming years.”
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