FAQs

Econergy is an international independent power producer of renewable energy projects, operating across six different countries in Europe, including the UK. Our aim is to develop, own and operate utility-scale renewable energy projects, driven by deep industry, regulatory and technology expertise at every critical stage from origination to supply.

Econergy is powering future energy needs with world-leading renewable energy plants optimised to provide a consistent supply of sustainable energy and a positive environmental outcome. We have a current pipeline of projects under various stages of development across Europe, with an approximate generation capacity of 8 GW and storage capacity of 11 GWh.

We aim to build a proactive relationship with local stakeholders on our renewable projects by creating opportunities for dialogue and exchange and develop a positive impact in the places our renewable assets are located. Through listening to the expectations of the local community we better understand the contexts in which we operate to best clarify emerging concerns, and where practicable adapt emerging projects to the requests being made.  Econergy is the developer responsible for EcoPower Suffolk.

Our project consists of five main areas situated around Yaxley substation in Suffolk. The emerging project area extends close to various villages in the Mid Suffolk District including Yaxley, Brome, Gislingham, Mellis, Thrandeston, Eye and Occold. Collectively, the proposed energy farm will cover a land area of around 600ha.

The proposed location was selected based on several criteria:

• Proximity to the National Grid: The nearby Yaxley substation can accommodate the required connection capacity. There are limited locations within the country where renewable energy projects of this scale can connect into the national electricity transmission network.
• Solar suitability: Southeast England has high levels of power per unit area of solar radiation received at a given point, increasing the efficiency of energy generation.
• Land availability: The area comprises sufficiently large and connectable land parcels.
• Environmental factors: The consultation area has few designated areas for environmental protection.

The consultation area for EcoPower Suffolk encompasses communities within and around the five areas nearby to the following settlements: Brome, Oakley, Yaxley, Gislingham, Mellis, Thrandeston, Stuston, Eye, and Occold, and the cable route corridor to the Yaxley substation.

The area was defined to include those most directly affected by the development and those with a reasonable interest in its impacts. Formal notifications and community events were targeted to ensure all relevant stakeholders could participate.

The project area for consultation is approximately 1,500 acres, or 600 hectares, which is more than we need to accommodate the generation capacity and will subsequently be reduced.

We are committed to working closely with the community, to ensure those near the solar farm also see tangible benefits locally.

We will ensure, wherever possible, local contractors and suppliers have the opportunity to become part of EcoPower Suffolk. Most of the employment and contractor opportunities will likely be available during the construction phase of the Project, if the Project is granted planning permission.

There will be multiple opportunities for local businesses and employees to register their interest in working with us.

We are also currently gathering ideas from local community groups and politically elected representatives on how we can contribute funding to projects and initiatives in the area, including a community benefit fund.

There are many factors driving the increase in the number of proposed solar projects. Primarily, it is because the UK has committed to decarbonising the electricity grid by 2030 to address climate change and deliver affordable home-grown energy. The government target is to increase solar energy generation by three to five times the current level.

Yes. Solar panels generate power from daylight, not just direct sunlight on clear days. Electricity is still produced on cloudier days.

Solar is the cheapest source of electricity, far more affordable than gas or nuclear and more cost effective to build than onshore wind. The energy price crisis has made the case for solar even stronger, and the cost of solar continues to decrease year on year.

Government clean energy and energy security targets cannot be achieved through rooftop and brownfield solar installations alone. Utility scale solar farms are essential for providing the large-scale energy generation required to transition the UK to net zero emissions. Many domestic and industrial buildings either do not have roofs made of suitable material to support a solar system, do not have the infrastructure to export electricity to the grid, or simply present as an unaffordable solution.

Solar panels do not have a highly reflective surface as they are designed to absorb light, resulting in very low levels of glint and glare. Due to the high-tech anti-reflective coatings, and ultra-transparent glass designed primarily to improve panel efficiency, there is not much glint.

In fact, solar panels are less reflective than many common building features  such as windows. Airports in the UK are either already operating or are installing solar systems, which they would not do if glint and glare was a concern.

We will be undertaking a glint and glare assessment to consider any potential impact on residential dwellings, public rights of way and roads. We will use additional natural screening, such as hedgerows and trees, to ensure there are no unacceptable glint and glare effects.

We recognise the potential local and regional concerns associated with the changes in land use resulting from large infrastructure projects in Suffolk. However, solar farms currently occupy a small fraction of UK land at 0.1% and are often located on lower-grade agricultural land where possible near a point of connection.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero estimates that even in the most ambitious scenarios, solar would occupy less than 1% of the UK’s agricultural land, which would make little difference to domestic food production.

As agricultural productivity is declining due to climate change, solar helps to diversify revenue for farmers and reduce carbon emissions, which are the key threats to food security.

The UK Food Security Report (11 December 2024) concludes that food production levels could be maintained or moderately increased alongside the land use change required to meet our Net Zero and Environmental Act targets and commitments. Assessments on other solar projects have been in accordance with the Government national assessment that, individually, the effects on food production will be minor adverse or negligible, which is not significant.

By temporarily taking land out of food production, we can enhance biodiversity and provide ecological benefits. Furthermore, the use of this land for solar energy can help diversify agricultural businesses, including initiatives like sheep grazing.

Battery storage, or battery energy storage systems (BESS), are devices that enable energy from renewables, like solar and wind, to be stored and then released when the power is needed most. To meet national net zero and climate change targets, we need BESS to store surplus energy generated by renewables for when it is needed.

Incidents of BESS fires are extremely rare and the technology that would be used for this project is improved in efficiency when compared to operational BESS projects.

We take safety extremely seriously and the risks of fires will be considered in an assessment submitted as part of the planning process. This will include a Battery Safety Management Plan, outlining the principles of good design, battery safety standards, the BESS fire prevention technology and the potential firefighting strategy for the Project, informed through engagement with the local Fire and Rescue Service.

Subject to stakeholder feedback and detailed design work, it is currently expected that the BESS would be located close to the project’s point of connection, which is the National Grid Yaxley substation. Therefore, site 5 could accommodate the BESS.

Our solar panels will be recycled. Organisations around the UK and Europe specialise in solar recycling and we will work with them to minimise the environmental impact of decommissioning the solar farm. Up to 99% of solar panels can be recycled.

There is also an increasing interest in the reuse of solar panels, provided they remain safe and operational and there are a growing number of initiatives advocating and empowering the reuse of panels such as sending them to locations in Africa.

No, solar projects save vast amounts of carbon emissions over their lifetime with a short carbon payback period relative to the anticipated lifespan of the panels.

After the solar farm’s operational lifespan of approximately 40 years, the land can be restored to its original use, expected to be in better condition than before the project. This is due to a combination of biodiversity and soil improvements.

Yes, solar farms improve local biodiversity through the creation and enhancement of habitats for both existing and new wildlife. It is expected the project would provide a minimum of a 50% increase in biodiversity net gain. Econergy are responsible for the maintenance of the planting, existing vegetation and other biodiversity areas during the operation of the project.

Development of the biodiversity initiatives within EcoPower Suffolk will be informed by ecology surveys and the expertise of technical specialists and key local stakeholders. We need to understand the wildlife presence on the site, and what our proposals can look like to best support the local environment.

We recognise that early proposals for nationally significant infrastructure projects can cause uncertainty within local communities.

The emerging site boundary at this stage is a maximum extent which will have a reduced developable area – renewable energy infrastructure will not be proposed to the full extent of this boundary.

Our refined proposals would include mitigations, such as: vegetation planting to provide visual screening, buffer distances from sensitive receptors, areas for ecological enhancement and areas not proposed for renewable energy infrastructure placement.

EcoPower Suffolk has committed to engagement with local communities at the earliest opportunity in order to shape more detailed proposals. We have held a number of local stakeholder briefings before the non-statutory consultation period, with the purpose of identifying initial and emerging concerns and to develop a well-designed project accommodating suggestions from the local community where practicable.

The site is considered a ‘temporary’ development, meaning it would be decommissioned after a set period which could then be returned to its original use. The operational lifespan of EcoPower Suffolk will be 40 years.

The Environmental Statement will assess the proposal as temporary and take into account the need to replace equipment during its operational lifetime.

We aim to access sites and manage all traffic in such a way that it will have a minimum impact on surrounding communities. Projects of this scale do have an impact, and through meaningful stakeholder engagement and robust technical assessment, we aim to minimise impacts as much as possible.

During construction, there will be some noise from construction traffic and the installation of the solar panels. The main noise will be from the piling part of the construction, which should not take longer than a few months within each solar panel area. Piling is a method of driving structural piles into the ground to create a foundation for the solar panel structure, particularly when the soil is weak.

Construction activity is typically increased during these first few weeks and months within each solar panel area, with activity decreasing once the piling is complete.

A Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) will be developed as part of the DCO application to outline how construction activities will be managed during construction. We will also prepare a Construction Traffic Management Plan (CTMP). Traffic during construction will enter the development sites via approved access routes and measures will be taken to mitigate the impact of construction traffic as much as possible.

Our CTMP will provide details on the type of vehicles used throughout construction, and the frequency of journeys made. This will be broken down site by site to give clear information on the traffic impact throughout the development area, with the expectation that traffic movements are high during the first few weeks and months, before decreasing.

It is likely that the solar infrastructure will take approximately two years to build while it will take two years to build the BESS. Typically, for a project of this scale, the build out period would be done in phases, staggering the construction phase by site, completing one site and moving to the next. The plans are subject to contractor appointment and their preferred method. This approach decreases any disruption and the construction timeline at each site.

Yes, it is expected that it will be a planning requirement. This keeps the site secure and ensures public safety. Generally, this is a green mesh style fence. Hedgerows can also be newly planted or enhanced outside the fencing location to better screen the solar infrastructure.

The main panel and BESS areas will have fencing and hedgerows, but existing public rights of way through the project area will be retained. During construction, temporary diversion or closure of public routes may be necessary to ensure safety. In operation, public rights of way will remain open and an appropriate stand off distance between the route and fence or hedgerow will be implemented to reduce any disruption for people.

Once we build the project, there will be very little associated traffic. There would be a very low number of non-HGV movements each month for maintenance visits.

Even under ambitious government targets, solar farms would occupy less land than currently used by golf courses in the UK. For EcoPower Suffolk, we have more land than we need for solar generation. This approach has been taken to ensure flexibility and the ability to present a well designed project for statutory consultation.

We are still concluding the required surveys to determine the location of the solar infrastructure. This will be further informed by the feedback we received during the recent non-statutory public consultation.

We can confirm that the full extent of the land within the proposed red line boundary will not be needed to produce energy. The remaining areas will either not be developed or used for buffer areas, environmental mitigation and enhancement. We are unable to provide more detail until we have completed the initial design process.

As part of determining proposed locations for the solar panels, we are assessing how visible solar panels could be from surrounding areas.

Existing trees and hedgerows, and the natural topography of the land in some areas, will help screen the project.

We will design the project to minimise impact on visual amenity and additional planting will be proposed in sensitive locations. There will be appropriate buffer distances from residential properties and we will choose a design that does not encircle properties with solar panels. In more sensitive locations, this may mean larger areas of no development.

Yes, we will aim to work with local contractors and suppliers where possible. Potential areas of work for local contractors include haulage, landscaping, fencing, drainage, site maintenance and habitat management.

EcoPower Suffolk would connect to the national electricity transmission network via underground cable to the Yaxley substation. This is located north of Yaxley and east of Mellis. The substation is approximately 1km from Site 5, located south of Thrandeston and north of Mellis, where the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) is expected to be located.

The connection date for the project is the end of 2030, at which point it will be energised.

Underground electrical cabling will connect the various sites and link them to the electricity grid. The current search areas for the most suitable cable corridor route can be viewed via the Indicative Cable Corridor Areas in our interactive map on the ‘Our Proposals’ page.

Usually, solar farms are designed with only a very small proportion of the development in contact with the ground, therefore leaving the vast majority of the site as permeable land. Nevertheless, we take the risk of flooding seriously and will be conducting flood risk and drainage assessments as part of our DCO application. This will detail mitigation efforts and drainage strategies, such as the location and elevation of the panels. It is expected these assessments would be submitted as part of the Environmental Statement.