A new solar farm under development in Honeybourne will generate enough renewable electricity to power 5,000 homes, enough to meet the needs of around 40% of Evesham’s residents.
The site at Sheenhill Solar Farm is located just five miles east of Evesham and has already secured permission for an 18MW grid connection.
The local grid in Worcestershire is managed by National Grid ED (West), which will distribute the renewable power generated at Honeybourne to the nearest demand centre in the town of Evesham.
Currently, the electricity demand of Evesham’s homes and businesses is met by generation from large-scale power stations that are not local, with electricity transmitted over long distances via the high-voltage National Grid.
To demonstrate the scale of electricity distribution required, here are the nearest large-scale gas, nuclear, and wind sources to the town of Evesham:
● Didcot B Power Station (Oxfordshire) – Located 60 miles south-east of Evesham, Didcot is a major gas-fired power station that transmits electricity through the National Grid before it is distributed via Evesham’s local grid.
● Heysham Nuclear Power Station – Approximately 160 miles north of Evesham in Lancashire, the site has two nuclear power stations that feed into the National Grid before electricity is routed to Evesham’s local grid.
● Pen y Cymoedd Wind Farm – Located in South Wales, around 80 miles from Evesham, the site has 76 onshore wind turbines that also feed electricity into the National Grid for national rather than local distribution.
The problem with distributing power over long distances is the energy loss that occurs along transmission lines. As electricity travels through high-voltage transmission lines, a portion of it is lost as heat due to electrical resistance in the cables. The farther the electricity has to travel the greater these losses become.
The location of the Honeybourne Solar Farm offers a major advantage in terms of grid efficiency and resilience by supplying electricity close to the demand centre of Evesham. The solar panels planned for the site will generate carbon-free, renewable electricity over a lifespan of 40 years, making a significant contribution to the country’s overall climate goals.
The site’s additional renewable capacity will also strengthen the country’s energy security by reducing the reliance on imported natural gas for gas power stations.
The planning application for the Sheenhill Solar Farm has been submitted to Wychavon District Council. Assuming planning permission is granted, the developers are expected to commence construction in the summer of 2028, with a view to starting electricity generation a year later.
The technical details of how the power produced by the Sheenhill Solar Farm will be used within the local grid have been provided by the experts at Business Energy Deals, an online business electricity comparison site.
This is a submitted article written by Ben Brading.
