Plans from Elgin Energy for solar farm on Northamptonshire farmland

Plans for a solar farm that would produce enough electricity to power about 12,000 homes have been submitted.

Elgin Energy, which runs several solar farms across the UK, has applied for planning permission from North Northamptonshire Council (NNC).

It wants to use farmland at Titchmarsh Lodge, about 1.5 miles away from Thrapston, for the project.

It has been consulting with authorities since December 2020.

It wants to use the site for 40 years, initially.

It said it is an ‘opportunity to provide a significant amount of low carbon renewable energy in an appropriate location’.

The site is nearly a mile south east of Titchmarsh, about 300 metres north of the A14 and directly south of Roman Road.

The farm would produce about 49.9 megawatts of electricity and would take about six months to build.

At the height of the building, four lorry journeys could be expected every hour there.

Elgin Energy said sheep would be able to graze between each row of solar panels, which would range between three and six metres.

That distance would be necessary to prevent inter-panel shading and to provide access to them.

When the site is decommissioned, work to remove the panels would take about six months.

The company first sought pre-application advice in December 2020. NNC responded in August 2021.

It has consulted Titchmarsh Parish Council and sent councillors a letter, brochure and an information sheet in October. They also gave a presentation on the plans that month.