About the Project

About TEKSS

TEKSS is a renewable energy developer working in the UK energy sector. We work with landowners across the UK to assess their land potential for generating renewable energy and to develop high-quality environmentally-sensitive schemes in suitable locations. For more information please visit our website.

The Westhide site

Over the past two years we have been assessing a potential solar power site on the Westhide Estate.

The site is located over half a kilometre north-west of the village of Westhide and consists of a cluster of eight arable fields.

The final proposal consists of circa 60 acres of solar development, located across three fields of primarily grade 3b land. The land in between the arrays will be seeded with a wild seed mix, creating circa 60 acres of species-rich grassland.

Why this particular site

This site has been selected for the following reasons:

• It presents a significant opportunity to generate a substantial amount of solar energy with minimal visual impact. Our latest design has an installed capacity of circa 24.6 megawatts (MW), which could generate enough clean electricity to power over 8,900 homes – equivalent to around 27% of the number of households in the Hereford locality.
• The selected fields are very well screened with existing hedgerows and trees along most of their boundaries. Additional planting will be added to screen the site further.
• A scheme of this size could save around 6,000 tonnes of CO² annually.
• We have secured a viable grid connection on the local 66kV network.
• The project presents an opportunity to bring substational net gains for local biodiversity and ecology by creating additional habitat for local plant and animal species and providing income to fund further ecological enhancements across Westhide Estate.

How the project fits within the wider Westhide Estate strategy

Westhide Estate has been undergoing regeneration and ecological enhancements over the past two decades, seeing improved fencing and other infrastructure, as well as significant improvements in the biodiversity and carbon sequestration potential of its woodlands.

Environmental sustainability

The owners of Westhide Estate wants to continue to improve the ecology of the environment in and around Westhide. A solar power project at Westhide fits within and supports the long-term sustainability strategy of the Estate.

Firstly, within the wider sustainability context, the potential site identified at Westhide can make a significant contribution to renewable energy and carbon emission targets, by generating enough green electricity every year to power over 8,900 homes – equivalent to around 27% of the number of households in the Hereford locality, and offsetting around 6,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.

Secondly, ground-mounted solar PV technology brings with it a significant ecological net benefit to the site on which it is installed. These benefits include:

• The land used for the scheme will be taken out of the monoculture of arable crop production for up to three decades and reseeded with a wildflower mix, thus creating a wildflower meadow under the panels; this is not only a substantial benefit to a variety of wildlife, but also improves soil quality.
• Existing valuable habitat, such as woodland and hedgerows, is retained as part of the scheme and further enhanced with additional planting (which has the added benefit of screening the site visually).
• Westhide Estate has insisted on the creation of additional habitat, with supplementary features and ecological enhancements, such as the introduction of onsite beehives and hibernacula for small mammals and reptiles, is included within the scheme.

Commercial sustainability

The commercial contribution of the solar development will also facilitate ecologically-sympathetic developments within Westhide village and the wider estate.

Townsend Farm yard, the last derelict area of the estate to be regenerated, has been identified by the estate as a potential location for residential development within Westhide village in the Neighbourhood Development Plan.

Several options are being considered by Westhide Estate but the landonwer's preference is for an eco-housing option – a more ecologically-enhanced and consequentially less commercial residential development (subject to planning), this option would offer further ecological enhancement of the village environment, an option that the solar power project would make possible whilst adding a major ecological component in its own right. The other alternatives are some form of agri-business or commercial housing.

Planning Application

The planning application for the proposal was submitted to Herefordshire Council in December 2021. All the relevant documents can be viewed in the Documents section of our website.

The planning application reference number is P214619/F and the full suite of planning application documents and reports can also be viewed on the Council's website.

During the formal consultation process we have addressed various additional points and made significant amendments to the submitted proposal. The Council has reviewed the additional information submitted and the planning team recommended approval in March 2023.

The planning applications was approved with conditions at the March 2023 planning committee hearing.

We will now commence working on discharging all the pre-commencement planning conditions and will continue to update the project website with key updates and milestones.