Welcome

Thank you for taking the time to visit our consultation website. We are excited about our plans and are delighted to share more information with you.

RNA Energy is bringing forward plans for a new solar farm and battery storage facility at Sperberry Hill, North Hertfordshire.

You can learn more about our plans through the information here on our website and through our virtual exhibition.

Our public consultation on the proposals will run from Friday 7th January until Monday 24th January. You can submit your comments by completing our feedback form or using one of the methods listed on the contact us section. Please ensure your comments are submitted by Monday 24th January so that these can be taken into consideration.

About RNA Energy

With the backing of institutional capital, RNA Energy is on a mission to develop and build a portfolio of solar and storage projects to power the UK with cheap, clean, and reliable energy.

The RNA Energy team is highly experienced and passionate about building the clean energy infrastructure needed for a net zero future.

RNA Energy is developing a portfolio of subsidy free solar projects in the UK.  The sites are focused in the south-east to maximise energy yield and have been chosen to minimise grid connection costs by ensuring they are in close proximity to connection points.  Where possible, sites will incorporate battery energy storage to enable energy to be delivered to the grid when it’s needed most – during peak times. This avoids solar energy flooding the network when demand is low and clean energy being curtailed.

The Site

The site comprises approximately 35.1ha of land to the south of Sperberry Hill and Stevenage Road, and between St Ippolyts and Titmore Green.

The site is strategically located due south of the UK Power Networks Wymondley Substation, to which our proposed solar farm would connect. An important factor in the delivery of renewable energy is the proximity of any site to the electricity distribution network. The greater the distance from this network, the less viable a scheme.

Wymondley Substation is one of the few substations in North Hertfordshire that has available capacity for large-scale renewable energy generation and the only one with direct access to the National Grid transmission network. We have identified our site at Sperberry Hill as is it ideally placed to connect into the substation.

Currently, there are a number of public footpaths that cross the site. We will be keeping these open for the public to enjoy. We will not obstruct or change them.

The location of the proposed site

The Proposals

You can find out more about our proposals by visiting the virtual exhibition. Here is a summary of what our plans include:

  • The site covers 35.1ha of land at Sperberry Hill.
  • The solar farm would have an export capacity of 25MW.
  • The solar panels will be approximately 2.4m in height.
  • The inverters and will be attached to the backs of the panels and will not be visible.
  • The transformers are ‘smart’ meaning they have a minimal noise impact and are located away from nearby properties.
  • The battery energy storage facility will have a capacity of 12.5MW.
  • The battery containers are approximately 3m in height and resemble shipping containers.
  • There will be acoustic fencing around the batteries to reduce potential noise impact and they are located away from nearby properties.
  • The land around the solar panels will be converted into grassland to be grazed by livestock.
  • The plan includes substantial hedgerow, tree planting, and wilder grassland areas around the perimeter of each field to the increase habitat connectivity for wildlife.
  • Construction traffic would be routed from the A602, via the B656 to Sperberry Hill where access to the site would be from either Little Almshoe Lane, or Stevenage Road.

Benefits

The proposals set out above will bring many benefits, such as helping the UK address its climate change obligations, boosting the local economy and increasing biodiversity.

Helping North Hertfordshire District Council meet its net zero targets

North Hertfordshire District Council declared a Climate Emergency in 2019 and has ambitions for achieving net zero across the district by 2040. Our solar farm will contribute approximately 25GWh of clean renewable solar energy, adding almost 50% to the existing renewable electricity generation capacity in North Hertfordshire and making a significant contribution to North Hertfordshire’s objective to be net zero within the District by 2040.

Increasing biodiversity

As solar farms have a small footprint, the land between each solar panel can be converted to grassland and be used as grazing land by livestock. Our plans will further include substantial hedgerow, tree planting, and wilder grassland areas around the perimeter of each field. This will provide a huge boost to local pollinator, bird and small mammal (mice, voles, hedgehog, bat) species populations due to the increased habitat connectivity and additional food sources. The project will deliver an approximate 130% biodiversity net gain based on area-based habitats, and an approximate 155% net gain based on linear habitats such as hedgerows.

Economic benefits

The plans will deliver substantial economic benefits, such as construction jobs and high skilled jobs, as well as knock on benefits.

In addition, we are hoping to work with the local Parish Councils to develop a community fund for local projects.

Helping the UK become greener

COP26 demonstrated that the UK needs to move away from fossil fuels urgently. The plans for a new solar and battery farm in Hertfordshire will help to create a sustainable future for generations to come.

The Need for Renewables

Significant increases in renewable and low carbon generation, combined with carbon capture and storage will be required to achieve the UKs net zero commitment by 2050, based on current and predicted demand.

The National Grid’s Future Energy Scenarios (FES) 2021 predicts that electricity demand will continue to increase due to an increasing population, the transition to electric vehicles, hydrogen production and a move away from natural gas for heating. This increased energy demand will need to be met by renewable, low carbon and carbon negative sources to achieve net zero by 2050. The FES 21 report predicts that between 34 GW and 77 GW of new wind and solar generation could be required to meet demand by 2030.

This Development will help the country meet its net zero targets by increasing the amount of clean, cheap, and secure electricity supplied to the National Grid.

Virtual Exhibition

This service is temporarily unavailable and will be reinstated as soon as possible.

Have Your Say

The consultation process provides an opportunity for you to provide your feedback on our plans ahead of a planning application being submitted to North Hertfordshire District Council. Your views are very important to us and all feedback will be considered to help shape the final plans.

The public consultation on the Masterplan will run until Monday 24th January 2022. Please ensure all feedback is received by us before this date. After the consultation concludes, we will review all feedback received and update our Masterplan accordingly.

Please note that any feedback provided by you will be used for the purposes of informing the submission of a planning application and a summary of all responses will be collated into a Consultation Statement to be submitted as part of that application to North Hertfordshire District Council. The information you provide will only be used for the purposes of this consultation exercise. The data will be held securely by Lexington on behalf of RNA Energy in accordance with data protection guidelines.

Contact Us

Should you want any further information or have any questions, you can contact the team using the details below: