NSIP

The 373 MW Cleve Hill Solar Park is now exporting 100% of its capacity to the grid. Under construction, co-located energy storage to come online at a later date. The project has broken UK records for financing and offtake agreements, according to developer Quinbrook.

The shallow pilings used on solar farms can offer relief to subsoil structures which might otherwise be threatened by regular plowing and, as Italy’s biggest solar project has demonstrated, site surveying for PV projects can unearth hidden delights.

The government’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has drafted secondary legislation aimed at easing the construction of large scale energy storage projects for renewables. Around 100 such batteries could be deployed thanks to the proposed rules, according to the department.

In January, the U.K. Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy opened consultation on its solar-plus-storage proposals. To date, systems with a capacity bigger than 50 MW are classed Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.

In the U.K., systems bigger than 50 MW fall under the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime and require special permitting. With the aim of optimizing the market for higher storage penetration, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is holding a consultation until March 25 to determine whether to retain the 50 MW threshold.

Wirsol Energy Ltd and Hive Energy Ltd are developing an over 50 MW solar + storage project which, when completed, will represent the United Kingdom’s first Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP).