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About The Developer
Statkraft is at the heart of the UK’s energy transition. Since 2006, Statkraft has gone from strength to strength in the UK, building experience across wind, solar, hydro, storage, grid stability, EV charging, green hydrogen and a thriving markets business.
Statkraft is a global company in energy market operations, more than 7,000 employees in over 20 countries.
We’ve invested over £1.4 billion in the UK's renewable energy infrastructure and facilitated over 4.3 GW of new-build renewable energy generation through Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).
Across our UK businesses we employ nearly 500 staff in England, Scotland and Wales and play a key role in helping the global business reach its goal of 9 GW of developed wind and solar power by 2025.
Read more about Statkraft UK.
About the Project
Mylen Leah is a proposed new solar farm located between the villages of Seaton Ross, Melbourne, Laytham, Ellerton, East Cottingwith and Foggathorpe in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
The proposed solar farm will have a capacity of approximately 500MW.
The project is at an early stage in the development process. The site has been carefully selected as part of a detailed feasibility process. The assessment includes planning and environmental designations, solar irradiance and access to the electricity grid.
Statkraft is already working in the local area, delivering a Greener Grid Park next to National Grid's Thornton substation, which is currently under construction. Statkraft will commence construction of Soay Solar Farm in 2025.
As any future application will be for an installed capacity of greater than 50MW it is considered a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP). The process for NSIP's is clearly set out by the Planning Inspectorate.
The project is currently in its early development stage where we have identified a development area and have carried out initial on-site studies to help us understand it's potential. Many of these studies are ongoing. Initial discussions have been held with the East Riding of Yorkshire Council and the Planning Inspectorate (PINS). We will then engage with a range of local stakeholders during the non-statutory consultation period.
The non-statutory consulation will commence in November 2024, which will help shape and refine our proposals. Following this we plan to hold our statutory consultation in 2025 to gather further feedback before moving forward with the next stages of the project.
You can ask us questions or give your views on the project now by contacting us.
This site has been carefully selected as part of a detailed feasibility process. The assessment includes, planning and environmental designations, solar irradiance and access to the electricity grid.
The project will connect into the National Grid's existing 400KV transmission substation at Thornton, via underground cables.
The underground cable route from the solar farm to the grid connection point is still being determined. We have identified a grid corridor search area that we are currently investigating.
Statkraft is developing the Soay Solar Farm and Greener Grid Park at Thornton. The project consists of a Greener Grid Park, currently under construction, to help increase the amount of renewable energy to be transmitted through the grid. Soay is an up to 49.9MW Solar Farm with construction due to start in 2025.
In March 2024 the community benefit fund for Soay Greener Grid Park was launched. We were pleased to work with the local community to deliver a fund that can meet local needs. It is managed by GrantScape and can be used to fund environmental, educational and a range of community projects.
You can find out more about the the current project and the Fund on our project page.
The design of Mylen Leah Solar Farm will be informed by an Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) survey which will identify areas of Best and Most Versatile (BMV) agricultural land. Where possible, areas of lower-quality agricultural land will be preferred to those of a higher quality.
The proposed development site covers approximately, 1,200 hectares composed primarily of existing farmland. Not all of the area is suitable for solar panels. We will be considering areas of land to be used for dedicated ecology and biodiversity enhancements and landscaping. The total area (hectares) required will depend on the final design and size of the scheme.
We look forward to sharing more, and receiving feedback on, the ecology and biodiversity enhancements associated with the project as we complete our studies and learn more about the possibilities of the site
It is expected that the construction of the solar farm will take between 24 and 48 months and likely developed in phases. The duration of the project build will become clearer as we continue to refine the site.
It is expected that the solar farm will be operational for a period of up to 60 years.
Should the project be consented and built the site will be decommissioned in line with the planning conditions issued as part of the consent. A decommissioning plan will be agreed as part of the planning conditions.
A key aim of our projects is to enhance biodiversity and contribute to the local economy.
There is a requirement that all projects deliver a biodiversity net gain of 10%, however at Statkraft we always aim to deliver above this measure. There will be dedicated areas for landscaping, habitat management and screening as part of the development.
We will be working with environmental consultants and organisations such as the Bumblebee Conservation Trust to help shape environmental and biodiversity measures at Mylen Leah.
The development of the solar farm is not expected to have any impact on the activities currently enjoyed at the race track.
Since the Mylen Leah Solar farm is expected to have a capacity greater than 50MW, it is classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP). As a result, Statkraft will submit an application for a Development Consent Order (DCO). While East Riding of Yorkshire Council will act as a statutory consultee during this process, the final decision on whether to approve the project will be made by the Secretary of State.
As part of being a good neighbour, there will be a community benefit fund available for the project.
We look forward to working with the community to develop a fund that delivers projects that meet local needs.
There will be no battery storage included as part of the proposals.
Solar panel structures will be fixed via piled metal profiles, driven to a depth of 1 metre to 4 metres (dependent upon ground conditions) to provide a firm foundation. Concrete will only used in areas where ground penetration needs to be avoided, for instance to avoid areas of archaeology and in this case a concrete ballast will be used.
Consulting the Community
Community engagement and feedback is important to help us design and shape the project. We want to strike the right balance between maximising the production of green energy production while addressing local concerns and fitting within the local environment. Local engagement and listening to feedback will help us meet this aim.
We encourage local residents to engage with us throughout the project. On this website you can fill in a feedback form to let us know your thoughts, register for updates, and find the latest information on the project under news updates.
There is also a two-stage engagement process, non-statutory and statutory consultation, with local communities surrounding our project, that we will be following as recommended for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs), those with an installed capacity of over 50MW.
Both the non-statutory and statutory consultation will be carried out before any application is submitted. It is best to share your views and thoughts on the project before any application is submitted as there is more opportunity to incorporate any changes ahead of submitting an application.
The non-statutory consultation is planned to take place during November 2024. We will be hosting a series of workshops with key stakeholders and community groups to receive initial feedback on our proposals.
Through these dedicated workshops, local issues can be identified and explored to a depth that provides the design team with sufficient detail to understand the ways in which the site could be refined at this stage of the project.
All feedback from the workshops will be carefully reviewed, alongside results from additional studies, before we present the revised plans for broader community feedback during our statutory consultation expected in mid 2025.
We are currently planning ot hold our Statutory consultation in summer 2025. By this stage we would have analysed the feedback recieved during the non-statutory consultation and carried out a range of technical assessments to further develop our proposal.
We will present our more refined plans at stautory consultation, during which members of the local community will be able to provide feedback. You can provide your feedback at any time through by contacting us or filling in the feedback form.
To stay up to date with our project, you can provide contact details via our Get In Touch page. We will email you with details of major project milestones. We will also update our Project Updates page as the project progresses.
In the meantime please do get in touch if you have any questions for the project team.