The University of Surrey has partnered with SSE Energy Solutions to propose the development of a 12.2MW solar facility situated on three fields on the University’s land to the west of Guildford. The solar facility will vastly increase the renewable energy capacity for the University and act as a steppingstone for the University and Guildford Borough Council to reach their net-zero carbon emission goals. This facility will deliver clean renewable energy side-by-side with nature, providing carbon reduction benefits along with new and improved habitats for local wildlife.

At just over 12 megawatts, the solar facility will generate energy equivalent to the annual electricity demands of approximately 4600 homes.

This is time-limited development and at the end of the solar facility's life (35 years) all equipment will be dismantled and removed from the site.

SSE Energy Solutions provides low carbon energy infrastructure, including solar energy generation and battery storage, low carbon heat networks and electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. SSE Energy Solutions is part of SSE plc which is committed to investing £12.5billion in crucial low carbon infrastructure in the next five years to support achieving a net-zero carbon society. Sustainability is one of SSE’s core values, defined as ‘we do things responsibly to add long-term value.’

We are UK listed, employing 10,000 talented and skilled people and are Real Living Wage and Fair Tax Mark accredited. We are driven by our purpose: to provide energy needed today while building a better world of energy for tomorrow.

The University of Surrey has partnered with SSE Energy Solutions to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated across its estate, whilst also powering the University of Surrey towards its ambitious 2030 net-zero carbon target. As part of its plan to fight climate change, the University is looking to significantly increase its on-site renewable energy generation from 0.1% up to 20% of total annual demand, as well as to drastically reduce the amount of fossil fuel used to heat its buildings and processes. This strategic collaboration will also provide extra support for research projects in the fields of energy and sustainability and will contribute towards new PhD and studentship opportunities.

• Assisting Guildford Borough Council in reducing greenhouse gasses, to reach its target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.
• Supporting the University of Surrey to meet its sustainability targets. The University of Surrey is committed to contributing to a greener and more sustainable society. Increasing the production of clean energy forms part of its ambitious ‘net zero’ plan, to the benefit of the local community and wider society.
• Accelerating the local generation of renewable energy which will help our country to move away from fossil fuels, enhancing the security of energy supply for all at a more affordable price. The UK Government has indeed announced the intention to increase the generation of solar energy by up to five times by 2035.
• Recognising its role as a responsible developer and operator, SSE aims to conduct its business in a way that contributes positively and shares value, giving back to the local communities in which it operates. In line with SSE practice, a community fund will be provided, aimed at supporting the community, enhancing local amenity and helping deliver local decarbonisation.
• The solar facility will allow the land to rest for the duration of the project. When the solar facility is removed at the end of its life, the soil in the fields will be in better condition than today.
• The solar facility will provide a suitable environment to enhance local biodiversity.

Biodiversity enhancements:

The solar facility will make a real positive difference to local biodiversity. This is important, as research has shown that 60% of British wildlife species monitored have declined since 2019 and 15% are facing extinction due to several factors such as pesticide use and habitat loss.

The solar facility will provide valuable habitats for an array of wildlife such as butterflies, beetles, bees, adders, worms and larks, amongst others. The land will be managed to actively ensure that biodiversity thrives. Chemical pesticides and fertilisers will no longer be applied to the land within the site, creating a safe sanctuary for some of Britain’s most beloved and important wildlife.

In addition to providing habitats for a range of local wildlife, our proposal will deliberately connect the site’s disparate woodland areas, providing a boost to local biodiversity. Independent evidence shows that solar facilities typically improve biodiversity within a range of 20% to over 100%.

SSE has partnered with expert ecologists and with the organisation Buglife, the only one in Europe devoted to the conservation of all invertebrates, actively working to save Britain’s rarest little animals. The aim is to develop a best-in-class biodiversity project which will be regularly monitored through the life of the solar facility.

“Well designed solar facilities can make a big positive impact on biodiversity. By making space for wildlife, creating wildflower-rich grasslands for bees and other pollinating insects – we hope that we can make a contribution to nature’s recovery, as well as providing low-carbon energy.”

Andrew Whitehouse Head of Operations at Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust

The low impact solar facility will help tackle the climate and energy crises we all face. There is now universal consensus among global climate scientists and governments that the climate is changing due to rising greenhouse gas emissions. The Climate Change Committee estimates that 75% to 90% of the UK’s electricity will need to come from solar and wind by 2050. This means the UK must install a minimum of 40GW of solar by 2030 to keep the net-zero carbon target on track. The government has recently announced the intention to increase the current solar capacity up to 70GW by 2035.

Guildford Borough Council declared a climate emergency in July 2019 and set a goal for the Borough to reach net-zero emissions by 2030. In January 2020, the University of Surrey committed to its own goal of achieving net-zero by 2030.

Surrey County Council has also set a target for solar PV installations'

“A Strategic priority (SP1) is to expand renewable energy generation capacity across the county with a focus on solar PV installations as the greatest carbon reduction potential. A target of 15% of energy from solar PV by 2032”
Surrey Climate Strategy, 2020

“Onshore wind and solar will be key building blocks of the future generation mix, along with offshore wind. We will need sustained growth in the capacity of these sectors in the next decade to ensure that we are on a pathway that allows us to meet net zero emissions in all demand scenarios.” UK Government Energy White Paper, 2020

1. How visible will the solar facility be?

The site is already well screened by existing woodland and hedgerows and the solar facility has been carefully designed to blend into this landscape with additional planting to increase the natural screening from hedgerows and trees. With landscape screening, the solar panels will not be prominent in the landscape when seen from public viewpoints and will become less visible as the planting matures. Through this planting, the scheme will also deliver added biodiversity benefit to the area with measures taken to diversify, increase and support the wildlife population of the area allowing for ‘biodiversity net gain’ (an overall increase in wildlife).

2. Why is the University not using areas on campus, such as the Stag Hill car parks for the solar facility?

The plans are for a comparatively small solar facility by industry standards, but they could still not be accommodated on our Stag Hill campus – including on our car parks, which are considerably smaller than the site of the proposed solar installation. There is nowhere on our campus that could accommodate a solar facility of sufficient scale to deliver the required power supply for the University or to contribute to the University’s carbon net zero commitments for 2030 and the associated sustainability benefits this brings to Guildford and its communities.

We are, however, continuing to progress plans to maximise the use of the roofs of our buildings to house solar panels and to integrate solar generation into spaces like our car parks where practicable. Our planned new solar facility at Blackwell is critical to the delivery of our sustainable energy commitments – but we are and will continue to enhance this with other, smaller schemes on campus as part of the University’s net-zero carbon strategy. The strategy broadly aims to reduce demand and increase self-generation capacity for zero carbon electricity

3. Will the solar facility damage the biodiversity and nature at Blackwell Farm?

Quite the opposite. The project represents an opportunity to improve the biodiversity of the land with wildflower meadows, grassland verges, enhanced nature corridors, hedgerow expansion, bat and bird boxes, bug hotels and a new pond, all part of the plan. The project will exceed the national 10% and the GBC 20% biodiversity net gain (BNG) standards.

The overall ecological plans, when fully implemented, would also provide a range of wider ecosystem services which are difficult to measure but nonetheless benefit society. These include increased pollination services to surrounding agriculture, improved air and water quality, increased carbon sequestration (due to healthier soils), increases in biodiversity and the resting of soils which will support future food production. Our aim is to leave the environment in a better condition than it is now.

4. Is the solar facility being built on AONB (area of outstanding natural beauty)?

The solar facility is being built on University owned land at Blackwell Farm and is not within the AONB.

The University and SSE are fully committed to protecting the area and the solar facility has been carefully designed to blend into the landscape using natural screening from hedgerows and trees. With landscape screening, solar panels will not be prominent in the landscape when seen from public viewpoints. The scheme will also deliver added biodiversity benefit, in addition to increasing the clean energy generation within Guildford Borough.

5. Is this land part of the Green Belt?

The solar facility sits on land which is designated in the local plan as Green Belt. The scheme has been carefully designed to minimise effects on the Green Belt and the solar facility would be a temporary use of land that is fully reversible. We believe that there are ‘very special circumstances’ that should allow the development to take place. This includes helping to meet urgent national objectives of reducing the reliance on unsustainable energy generation in the interests of reducing the impacts of climate change and improving energy security.

It is considered that the proposed development would make a positive contribution in this and would bring positive wider public benefits, and this should be given substantial weight in determining this application. National policy explicitly states that “the wider environmental benefits associated with increased production of energy from renewable sources’ can contribute to the very special circumstances put forward to justify development in the Green Belt.” The grant of planning permission would not alter the site’s status as Green Belt

6. Will it be noisy?

No, it will not be noisy. There will of course be some noise during the construction process, but after that, very little for the life of the project. A design noise assessment report has determined that existing background (actually traffic from the A31) noise actually exceeds any low-level noise from the inverters day or night. The panels themselves are silent, and the low level of noise that may be made by the inverters would not be audible at all beyond about 100 metres.

7. How long will it take to build?

We expect that it will take approx. 10 (ten) months in total. Clear information will be shared ahead of the start of the works and all the necessary safety measures will be in place. A contact will be made available, should any residents have questions or issues at any point during construction.

8. Will the solar facility change the land classification (ALC)?

The proposed site is on agricultural land. However, the solar facility will not change the agricultural land classification (ALC). In fact, the rest from intensive agriculture will have a long-term significant benefit for the soil quality along with the removal of pesticides and herbicides, currently in use. The land at the solar facility will remain in a form of agricultural use as it will be managed as species rich grassland grazed by sheep. The change of use of the land from intensive agriculture to species rich grassland will significantly improve the biodiversity of the site and rest the land from the inputs and practices associated with intensive agriculture. Additional hedgerow and tree planting and other habitat creation measures will also provide wildlife benefits as well as enhanced screening of the solar facility and its access.

9. Who is going to use this clean energy?

The solar facility is designed for the University to use, with a ‘private-wire’ transmitting power to the Stag Hill campus, as part of its target to become carbon neutral by 2030. Excess energy or ‘spill’, as it is called, is inevitable for any solar generation scheme, but will however, be exported to the national grid, to the benefit of the local community through decarbonisation of the regional and national grid and its energy supply.

10. Should farmland only used for food production?

The agricultural land classification (ALC) uses a grading system to enable assessment and comparison of the quality of agricultural land in England and Wales. ‘Best and most versatile’ (BMV) is graded 1 to 3a. Much of the solar facility area is comprised of subgrade 3b (ALC), which is not regarded as BMV agricultural land as it seen as of limited use for food production. Of the remainder that is BMV land, only a very small proportion of this is defined as being within the higher grade 2 category. It should be noted that 71% of all UK land is agricultural and solar farms occupy less than 0.1% of the total land area. In addition, a recent independent analysis from CPRE shows that only less than 3% of the current overall renewable energy capacity in England is built on high value land. This shows that loss of valuable farmland is heavily dominated by other uses.

11. Isn't there a food security issue in the UK?

The Government Food Strategy was presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in June 2022. The strategy explicitly references the UK Food Security report, published by the government in December 2021, and notes that “we have a high degree of food security in the UK”. The report further confirmed that “the biggest medium to long term risk to the UK’s domestic food production comes from climate change and other environmental pressures like soil degradation, water quality and biodiversity”. So contrary to perception, the strategic use of farmland for solar power generation, is actually beneficial to food production overall.

12. Will the solar facility cause any glint and glare?

Solar panels are designed to absorb light and not to reflect it. They pose little risk of glint or glare affecting the environment. Testament to this fact is the installation of solar panels at Gatwick Airport, alongside major roads and beside sports car raceways such as the ‘Top Gear’ test track. A glint and glare assessment has been submitted with the planning application which indicates no risk or harm to railway, aircraft or residents.

13. Why is this only a temporary development?

Solar facilities are classed as temporary structures. This is so that planning conditions on any planning permission can be used by the Local Planning Authority (LPA) to ensure that the facility is decommissioned and removed when no longer in use and the land is restored to its previous condition prior to the solar farm’s installation. A temporary planning permission for solar development does not permanently change the land use of the site, with the land restored back to its original condition and use. As such the land will not be classified as brownfield, rather it would remain greenfield.

A temporary consent for solar development does not necessarily make a site more likely to be developed in the future – any decisions to change the future use of the site would be taken by the local planning authority in line with existing national and local planning policies.

Project progress highlighted

Spring 2022 – Pre-submission consultation

Winter 2023 – Finalise proposed design

March 2024 – Submit planning application

June 2024 – Estimated planning decision

Winter 2024 – Construction starts (if granted approval)

Autumn 2025 – Solar facility begins to generate energy