Planning for Renewable Energy in Worcestershire Research Paper

12. Infrastructure Requirements12.1 Large-scale renewable energytechnologies require appropriateinfrastructure to operate successfully. Thisinfrastructure may already exist and havesufficient capacity to facilitate therenewable energy technology, or it mayneed to be upgraded or even introducedas a direct result of the new energydevelopment.12.2 Renewable energy installationswill have different infrastructurerequirements depending on thetechnology employed, the location andoperating conditions. Whilst a site maysatisfy a number of important criteria indetermining where a technology may bemost suitable, if the necessaryinfrastructure is not available, or cannotbe made available, then the developmentcannot be successful. Some of theinfrastructure provisions that maygenerally be expected to be required are:Access to the site for constructionand maintenanceSome potential renewables sites may,by their nature, be remote. Sites forwind turbines, for example, will requireadequate road transport links at theconstruction stage to enable largeheavy goods vehicles to transportmaterials and plant. Further accesswill be required for maintenance andpossibly decommissioning.30Paragraph 38 of the Technical Annex withinthe Companion Guide to PPS22, ODPM (2004)Grid connectionLarge-scale (and some small-scale)renewables should be connected tothe national electricity distributionnetwork. This enables excesselectricity generated to be fed backinto the grid, whereas it mightotherwise be lost. It may be that apotential site is a considerabledistance from the network, or that theexisting network is unable to handlethe extra capacity. In these instances,it may be necessary for networkimprovements or extensions. The costof any extensions can be prohibitivelyhigh, especially where power cablesmust pass through difficult terrain, andthis should be considered at theoutset. Electricity sub-stations will havea maximum capacity that could limitthe connection of larger-scalerenewables.Access to fuel/fuel storageWhere biomass is concerned, areliable fuel source must be identifiedto supply the plant into the future. Foreconomic and environmental reasons,this fuel should ideally be sourced fromwithin 25 miles of the biomassfacility 30 . Beyond this distance, thebenefits of biomass begin to decrease.A further consideration is to ensure asuitable fuel store is available that canaccommodate the required volume ofbiomass, and can be accessed fordeliveries by the supplier.Appendix A provides further informationon likely infrastructure considerations foreach technology.INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIREMENTS:SUMMARY/SUGGESTIONS● RENEWABLE ENERGY INSTALLATIONS, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF A LARGERSCALE, WILL REQUIRE INFRASTRUCTURE TO BE IN PLACE, OR BE PROVIDED,IN ORDER TO OPERATE SUCCESSFULLY.12. INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIREMENTS ● Planning for Renewable Energy in WorcestershireTechnical Research Paper 29