The West Burton solar project for Island Green Power will extend to 788 hectares over several land parcels in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, southeast of Gainsborough.
And Ecotricity’s Heckington Fen project, in the south of the county, will cover a similar area and generate enough electricity to power 100,000 homes.
Both schemes have been designated as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs).
The new West Burton solar farm will feed into three electricity generating stations, each with a generating capacity expected to exceed 40MW.
The development will comprise ground-mounted solar arrays plus associated energy storage, grid connection infrastructure and other facilities required for the operation and maintenance of the development.
According to planning constultant Lanpro, the West Burton solar farm will generate enough power to supply 144,000 homes and will replace around 24% of the capacity of the former coal-fired West Burton Power Station (currently operating as a combined-cycle gas turbine facility).
Both schemes claim to offer affordable energy. According to Lanpro, electricity generated from solar farms is already cheaper than electricity generated by fossil fuels.
Lanpro also claimed that the West Burton scheme will “contribute towards strategic improvements to local ecology and biodiversity”.
However, local residents are less than enthusiastic about Miliband’s decision to green-light the two schemes.
Lincolnshire councillor Colin Davie told the BBC that the decision is a “slap in the face” for the county.
“These two developments add more than 1,000 hectares of solar parks to the county, bringing the total land now allocated for five approved developments to around 3,500 hectares. A further 6,400 hectares are also being proposed in Lincolnshire,” said Davie.
He added that the proliferation of solar farms in the region would “trash the countryside”.
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