Will Fraser on Habitat, Biodiversity and the UK's Largest Solar Farm

Will Fraser on Habitat, Biodiversity and the UK's Largest Solar Farm The Future of Solar Photovoltaics podcast heads to Tower 42 for a super series on the Heathcote Holdings Group and the people driving solar forward in the UK. In this episode, Vikram Kumar talks to Will Fraser, who runs Habitat Regeneration, the ecological and land management arm of the group, about what actually happens to the land under and around a giant solar farm. Drawing on his first project in solar, the UK's largest ever solar farm at Cleve Hill, Will explains how habitat and ecology work isn't an afterthought but a 25 to 30 year commitment written into planning from day one. We get into biodiversity net gain and how solar routinely beats the mandatory targets, why wildflowers need the right soil conditions, how drones and AI are being used to monitor 1,600 plant species year on year, the translocation of protected water voles, sheep grazing as genuine food production, wildfire and live-equipment risk, nutrient neutrality and the sea defences at Cleve Hill. It's an honest look at the food-versus-energy debate, the just transition, and whether solar really can restore the countryside rather than pave it over. Guest: Will Fraser, Habitat Regeneration (FGS Agri, Heathcote Holdings Group) Host: Vikram Kumar Chapters: 00:00 Intro and welcome to Tower 42 00:42 Meet Will Fraser and Habitat Regeneration 01:20 Farming roots, becoming a surveyor, and spotting the BNG opportunity 03:45 A background in land, countryside and rural diversification 04:34 Where Habitat Regeneration sits within FGS Agri 05:06 What is a LEMP? 06:07 Getting ecology right early, and introducing Cleve Hill 09:00 Food versus energy, site selection and public acceptance 10:57 Is solar really controversial? Oil spills and a just transition 11:48 When Will gets involved: turnkey habitat, mitigation and O&M 14:11 Water voles: protecting a rare species during construction 15:14 AgriPV and east-west layouts: farming under the panels 16:49 Sheep grazing, wildfire risk and live equipment 17:36 Wildflowers, drawing down soil nutrients, drones and AI monitoring 20:12 Biodiversity net gain, the Defra Metric and bees 23:14 Water quality, nutrient neutrality and the Cleve Hill sea defences 25:07 Keeping it alive: the crucial first three years 25:48 What Will loves about the job 26:36 The future of solar photovoltaics 28:28 Closing thoughts and thanks