Project updates
These are the latest project updates for Necton Greener Grid Park
Latest news
We are delighted that our proposals for a new Greener Grid Park at Necton have received a resolution to grant planning permission from Breckland District Council.
The Necton Greener Grid Park is a pioneering project that will help achieve zero-carbon emissions in Britain by increasing the stability of the electricity grid and the amount of renewable energy being delivered onto the grid network. We submitted a planning application in Spring 2023, following local consultation.
We would like to thank all those who engaged with us throughout the planning process and provided feedback.
After public consultation on 9 March 2023 at Necton Community Centre we have listened to feedback and completed our studies. We submitted the application (3PL/2023/0848/F) on 24 August 2023 and are expecting it to come before the Breckland Council Planning Committee in the near future.
We have prepared a short briefing note to explain our plans and why National Grid Energy Systems Operator (NGESO) has identified Norfolk as an area which requires more grid stabilisation in more detail. It contains no new information.
Statkraft has now submitted a planning application REF:3PL/2023/0848/F to Breckland Council for a new Greener Grid Park on land adjacent to Necton substation.
Our plans have been informed by the feedback from the pre-application public consultation that we carried out with the local community.
You can view the full planning application through Breckland Council's Planning Portal.
If you would like to be kept informed with project news, contact us here
Our design has evolved so that the entire requirements of the NGESO’s contract can be met through synchronous compensator technology. As a result, we are now progressing Necton Greener Grid Park without battery storage.
We have taken on the feedback from the local community, updating our landscaping and drainage plans. Our design includes a significant increase in the depth of the triangular landscape buffer. At its narrowest point the buffer depth has nearly doubled from 7m to 13m deep and at its deepest point it has more than trebled from 12m to 42m deep.
You can read more about the landscape and drainage changes in the update.
We are now working to finalise our plans in advance of submitting a planning application.
Statkraft is grateful to everyone from the local community who attended the public consultation event for Necton Greener Grid Park, held on March 9 at Necton Community Centre. We also thank those who joined the virtual exhibition which ran on our dedicated project website from 9 March – 16 March.
At the event, residents and elected representatives were able to view the proposals, ask questions, and give their feedback.
If you haven’t yet, you can view the exhibition materials here and give your thoughts through this website. We will carefully consider all feedback received and keep the community updated as the proposals progress.
Statkraft, Europe's largest generator of renewable energy, have notified local residents and community leaders of plans for a Greener Grid Park on land to the south of the A47, near Necton Substation.
We understand that there will be interest in relation to the project and are committed to involving the local community in our proposals. We will hold a public exhibition at Necton Community Centre, 13 Tun’s Road, PE37 8EH on 9th March 2023 from 3.30pm – 7.30pm to outline the plans and meet local residents and organisations. This has been advertised through a letter sent to nearby residents and a newspaper advertisement.
A virtual exhibition will also run on our dedicated project website: www.statkraft.co.uk/necton, from 9th March – 16th March, with the same information and opportunity to ask questions as in the drop-in exhibition.
A copy of the invitation can be found here.
