04 Nov 2021

Webinar: Large Scale Solar – Planning the Route to Net Zero

Climate change is arguably the most pressing global issue of our time, and governments across the world must act fast to drastically cut emissions across all sectors of their economies.

The Climate Change Act 2008 was amended in 2019 to commit the UK to reaching ‘Net Zero’ by 2050, and the energy sector will need to play a major role in meeting that target.

The government expects renewable energy, such as solar and wind, to be the predominant source of energy generation by 2050.

This joint BDB Pitmans and Renewable Energy Association (REA) webinar will explore some of the challenges and opportunities faced by large scale solar developers in locating sites, securing planning consent and getting developments operational well in advance of 2050.

Key themes that will be discussed include:

Whether the planning system for medium and large scale solar is fit for purpose;
Whether recently proposed changes to national planning policy for large scale solar go far enough;
The ‘subsidy-free’ funding world and whether alternative funding mechanisms are appropriate or necessary; and
Grid capacity availability issues.

On what will be Energy Day at COP26 (the UN Climate Change Conference) in Glasgow, Nina Skorupska CBE, CEO of the REA, will join us live from COP26 to introduce the webinar.

The expert panel members, who will be providing their perspectives on the webinar’s themes, will include Hugh Brennan from solar developer, Hive Energy; Sarah Price from DWD Planning consultants; Jonathan Selwyn from Bluefield Development; Mark Sommerfeld, Head of Power and Flexibility at the REA; and Richard Marsh, partner at BDB Pitmans.

We will conclude with Q&A from the audience.

Register for your place by using the RSVP button.

The session will be held using Zoom, a link will be sent to you in your registration confirmation email and will also be re-sent on the morning of the webinar.

We hope you can join us.