Area of land in Bassetlaw the size of over 200 football pitches to be screened as possible solar farm location

Bassetlaw District Council documents show there is interest in the installation of solar photovoltaic panels at a 150-hectare, 370 acre, rural site near Retford.

The development would generate up to 49.9 megawatts of electricity and would operate for 40 years before it was returned to agricultural use.

Roderick MacKenzie, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham, previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that a farm of this size could power around 15,000 homes.

Firm Enso Energy has asked for an environmental impact assessment to test land near Bumble Bee Farm, in Saundby Road, to see if it is suitable to host the renewable energy source.

The EIA screening would “assess whether a development is likely to give rise to significant environmental effects”.

Construction of the solar farm would take seven months, documents show.

Mr MacKenzie said: “This is just the beginning of a big, long trend.

“We’ve got to get our electricity from somewhere and wind and solar are the cheapest forms.”

The Enso Energy document stated: “The proposal is for the construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning of a ground mounted solar farm with an export capacity of up to 49.9 MW for distribution to the national grid.

“Provision is also made for a battery storage facility which would be utilised to reinforce the power generation of the solar farm.

“After a 40-year period the proposal would be decommissioned with all electricity generating equipment and built structures associated with the development removed from the site and the land returned to agricultural use.”