JBM Solar receives planning permission for 49.9MW project in Ashorne

JBM Solar has confirmed it has received planning permission to develop a 49.9MW solar and co-located battery storage project based in Ashorne.

The project attracted widespread community support following extensive public consultation, the company confirmed, with no objections issued from any direct neighbours to the scheme. The project additionally received support from two of the local parish councils.

This forms part of JBM’s commitment to deliver a 2GW UK solar pipeline in the next three years.

A number of biodiversity measures will be incorporated into the project to provide a net gain of over 150%. This will be achieved by planting 3.5km of new trees and hedgerows as well as introducing log-piles, bird boxes and insect hotels.

Alongside this, the project will also create 24.5 acres of new wildflower meadows and scrub habitat as well as the installation of beehives on site to raise the awareness of bees. To achieve this, JBM Solar is collaborating with Good Bee Company.

Now that planning has been granted, JBM said it will work with local parish councils to establish a community benefit fund, with a view to funding green infrastructure projects at a local level.

JBM received the greenlight to deliver a similar project at Hinckley and Bosworth last month with a generation capacity of 49.9MW. The solar farm will, much like the Ashorne project, incorporate co-located battery storage to maximise the efficiency of the project.

German renewables giant BayWa r.e. recently acquired 99.8MW of subsidy-free co-located solar sites from JBM Solar consisting of two consented sites, the first the Corner Copse project near Swindon and the second Scurf Dyke near Hull.

Both are 49.9MW sites that received planning permission in 2020 and are set to come on stream in 2023. They will utilise bifacial module technology and be co-located with onsite battery storage technology.