Lincolnshire campaigners say 40% of offshore wind farms will land in county

Campaigners say that nearly 40% of energy generated by offshore wind farms will be landed in Lincolnshire as they continue to fight against the wave of renewable energy projects hitting the area.

LAND (Lincolnshire Against Needless Destruction) has been challenging Government assertions that just 1% of agricultural land will be used for new energy infrastructure such as solar and wind farms.

The campaign group has undertaken some research after the campaign group says it receives ‘partial’ answers from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) to its Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

LAND says 40% of all UK’s offshore wind generation will come ashore in Lincolnshire, based on current proposals and DESNZ 2030 figures.

And it also claims that 25% of all UK solar will be generated in Lincolnshire by 2030, using the same calculation.

Cat Makinson, chairman of LAND, has spent hours interrogating all current information made public by National Grid, the National Energy System Operator (NESO) and private energy operators.

She said: “We have done our own calculations based on all the proposals queuing to come online in the county and the figures look pretty bleak.

“Lincolnshire will be generating 9,184MW of solar energy, Based on the average of 25 acres per 5MW that equals around 46,000 acres We have allowed another 14,000 acres for BESS (Battery Energy Storage Systems), substations, convertor stations and energy generation projects bringing the total to 60,000 acres.

"These calculations are purely the large solar infrastructure planned and do not include smaller proposals decided at local level or those already operational.

“We farm 1.2 million acres of land here in Lincolnshire and 138,000 acres of that is the Lincolnshire Wolds which have protected status. Taking these figures into account Lincolnshire will lose at least 5.5% of its agricultural land.”

LAND says the department responded to its FOI with only details of large-scale energy projects (NSIPs or Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects) already approved, and only those approved since 2015.

The groups added that the Government said it could not provide all of the information requested on the grounds that it would ‘require a substantial volume of work and would be a manifestly unreasonable burden on the Department’.

Cat said: "The reply showed that they don't log the BMV status of land (Best and Most Versatile agricultural land is defined as land graded 1 to 3a) until the proposals have passed, and their claims of brownfield sites first and avoiding productive land are a sham if they are not accurately keeping track of the proposals - our request should have been easily answered as the information should have been at hand.

"Ordinary people (volunteers) shouldn’t have to do DESNZ's homework for it, especially when Miliband is offering half a million for someone to run GB Energy - he would be better off getting a bunch of 'NIMBYs' who would do a thorough job for free."

LAND claims that Lincolnshire solar will take 94 square miles of land - equivalent to all of Liverpool, plus all of Manchester and then some.

A press release from the group states: “But if just 22% of UK homes had rooftop solar panels we would need 50% fewer solar farms. Include public buildings, large factories and industrial premises in the mix and we’d need even fewer, preserving vital farmland.

“Ignore the threat and we will have to import more food, and it will increase in cost.

“All new energy infrastructure in Lincolnshire will use 5.5% of agricultural land (60,000 acres) - not the less than 1% national average that Ed Miliband will have you believe.

“The Government launched an advertising campaign claiming solar would take less land than the nation's golf courses.

“Firstly, it's a ridiculous comparison to make. Golf courses do not grow food, neither do football pitches, school playing fields, village greens or London parks for that matter, any of which could be used to make the same nonsensical comparison.

“Secondly, it's just not true. Golf courses take up 40% of land that will be taken for energy generation.

“Our latest FOI has been directed to National Grid, asking what their carbon footprint will be for the plan for 87 miles of pylons and overhead cables from Grimsby to Walpole. It has just a few days left to respond.”

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