The Flood Hub

The Crossens Pumping station Solar Array will cost £2.48m. All funding has now been secured. £1.26M of European Regional Development Funding has been achieved from the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth programme (2014-2020). The Department for Leveling Up Housing and Communities is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding. The Environment Agency (EA) is funding £1.22m of the scheme. The scheme is part of the EA’s commitment to reduce carbon. This scheme creates renewable energy. The solar array will produce enough electricity each year to power the pumping station, reducing the Carbon emitted to the atmosphere by 260 Tonnes per year.

More than half the EA’s emissions come from construction; that’s 148,000 tonnes a year. Reducing these emissions poses a real challenge. To reach net zero by 2030, they’ll reduce their total carbon emissions by 45%, including those of their supply chain. The reduction is the equivalent of taking more than 5610 vehicles off the road. The EA will continue to protect homes and businesses from flood risk. This project will include the addition of solar powered electric vehicle charging points for EA vehicles.

Access to the project will be via an access road that currently exists for the site. Site investigations have finished and the project build will start late July 2022. A delay in the start date for the project resulted in improved options for the solar panels. There will therefore be a decreased project footprint and increased carbon savings.

Your property will not be directly impacted by the installation of the solar panels, but the view to the rear of your property will change as the solar array may be visible. The design tilts the solar panels away from the houses to minimise glare and the site will be screened by semi mature hedgerows. There will be wildflower planting around the panels.

Prior to the final design decision for the project, other options for powering the station were considered, including wind turbines. However, bats were identified as part of the ecological surveys of the area and solar power was decided on. Wind turbines directly impact bats through collision and barotrauma (damage to tissues from air pressure changes around turbines). The development also proposes a number of biodiversity benefits with the creation of 0.22ha of wet woodland and 410m of new hedgerow. These measures will enhance the grassland of the site, improving conditions for barn owls and bats.

If you have any questions about the project, the Environment Agency would encourage you to get in touch at ctc@environment-agency.gov.uk. For information visit www.thefloodhub.co.uk/cuttingthecarbon