Proposed Cornwall solar farm changes name after complaint

A power company has changed the name of a proposed solar farm in Cornwall after community objections.

EDF proposed plans for Dupath Spring Power Farm between Callington and St Mellion.

Dupath Farm, which is not part of the scheme, had said it was “annoyed and upset that Dupath has been used in the name of the proposed development, bringing our name into this emotive debate”.

EDF said it had changed the name to Viverdon Down Solar Farm and a consultation on the scheme was due to close on Thursday.

Bert Bayley, project developer at the firm, said: “We are keen to incorporate feedback from the community into the design of the solar project and would like to thank those residents and stakeholders who joined us at our recent consultation events.”

EDF said the proposed solar farm, a 49.9 megawatt site set on 80 hectares (200 acres) of land north-west of St Mellion, was capable of generating enough low carbon electricity for the domestic needs of 15,437 households annually.

It said it would enhance biodiversity in the area with the planting of trees, hedgerows, grass and wildflowers to provide improved habitats.

Resident Graham Wikins said he believed solar farms needed to contribute more to the local area and a grant of £20,000 per year offered by EDF was “a little on the low side”.

He was also concerned the solar farm would not be used effectively and suggested some wind turbines in the area had been turned off because the grid did not have capacity for the extra generation.

“Wind turbines that should be rotating because it’s blowing really hard and aren’t,” he said.

“The reason they aren’t is not because they are broken, it’s generally because the landowners are being paid to turn their wind turbines off.

“As a consequence I’m just worried this project would make the problem worse.

“Effectively we need more grid capacity to take the electricity out of Cornwall rather than produce more that we can’t use locally.”

Mr Bayley said the grid was “several years behind the generation” of electricity.

“You can build generation quicker than the grid can upgrade,” he said.

“That’s why at times of the day there might be a lot of wind there might be a lot of sun, they’re paid to switch off to protect the grid.

“Now the grid reinforcement works are going ahead here, and what will happen when this solar farm is built, the grid will catch up and more of that energy will be used in households across the country.”

On community contributions, he said: “EDF power solutions provide the market rate.

“We are potentially looking to offer more but for the time being £20,000 a year is market rate from a solar farm, in fact others don’t offer any money at all.”