Powering England with sustainable energy

The last four summers have been the hottest ever recorded, and with global temperatures rising it is generally accepted that our future summers will be hotter. Human activities, including burning fossil fuels, are a contributing factor. Helping our planet to regain equilibrium is a defining issue of our time.

Consents Solutions, an RSK company, worked on a wide-ranging sustainable project for Shropshire Energy on a farm in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, UK. The proposed anaerobic digestion plant and mushroom farm are an ingenious way to help combat global warming. The mushrooms, grown organically, will meet local demand and the eco-friendly power plant, fuelled by vegetable waste and locally grown maize, will generate around 2.4 MW of green energy to supply the mushroom farm with the excess energy sold to the national grid.

The route-proving exercise examined the route from the existing local electricity network to the site. The local distribution network operator provided a point of connection that involved crossing the King’s Lynn to Cambridge railway line and the River Great Ouse. However, both crossings would involve high costs and lengthy negotiations with the current operators to gain consent.

By working cohesively with the distribution network operator, Consent Solutions delivered the required legal consents for providing 24-hour site access and delivered the scheme on schedule by

• maximising the route options• working as part of the delivery team to assist the design and construction process
• obtaining the necessary third-party consents
• providing the environmental resource to manage all environmental issues
• ensuring the client was aware of the very latest information to assist them with the overall programme.