Winning partnership for climate action
Anesco Limited is on a mission to accelerate the transition to a sustainable, low-carbon future. To date, the company has designed and constructed 111 solar farms and 33 large-scale energy storage facilities, generating over 774MW of clean energy.
The company enjoys a 100 per cent record in steering applications through the planning system to build solar farms and battery storage facilities around the UK. In part, this is due to the high level of detail and rigorous application at every stage of the process. Partnerships with experienced and trusted advisors are critical to ensure the company is best placed to maximise each opportunity. Navigating the political and technical complexities requires an intimate knowledge of the local and national policy context, and a deep understanding of the ecology, flood-risk and transport issues.
Low Farm in Skegness, Lincolnshire, is an example of the transport planning and construction management support that has contributed to the company’s planning application success rate.
Demonstrating suitability and sustainability
According to Motion Director, John Russell, “While the planning environment may be more favourable for renewable projects, the highways and transportation arguments in support of solar farms need to be increasingly robust to address opposition.”
The crux of the argument often centres on the movement of vehicles to and from site during the construction phase, and capacity of the local road network to 
accommodate the resulting additional heavy vehicle traffic. Transport Planner, Andrew Nock, explains, “Both temporary access for larger vehicles and the site’s permanent access arrangements can present obstacles that need to be addressed as early as possible.”
Laura Murphy, Senior Project Developer at Anesco, agrees. “Often the challenge from a transport perspective centres on the detail concerning visibility splays, on-site turning, CrashMap data and construction vehicle routes. The Motion team supports us with provision of expert knowledge and timely advice, with access to an impressive network of local authority contacts.”
Low Farm project at a glance:
- 50MW solar farm
- 60-hectare site
- 13,500 new homes powered by clean energy
- 12,000 tonnes of carbon emissions saved annually
- Supports local authority’s carbon reduction plan
- Biodiversity net gains of more than 130%
Motion contribution:
- Preparation of transport statement
- Access advice
- Swept path analysis
- Assessment of junction visibility
- Analysis of traffic impact and mitigation – during and after construction phase
Outcome:
New, non-carbon energy generating facilities at a location safely accessed by construction and operational vehicles with de minimus temporary traffic impact.
Construction of Low Farm in Skegness will be completed at the end of 2023.
Image credit: Photograph courtesy of Anesco
This article first appeared in the Sustainability Special Issue of Insight
