Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs written question – answered at on 11 March 2025.
Lincoln Jopp
Conservative, Spelthorne
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of floating solar panels on reservoirs on the Environment Agency's risk designation for such reservoirs.
Emma Hardy
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
When considering the risk designation of reservoirs, the Environment Agency looks at the volume of water that could be stored by the reservoir, along with the potential loss of life that could occur should there be an uncontrolled release of that water. The use of the reservoir for things such as solar panels does not affect the risk designation.
If solar panels were to be installed on a reservoir, the Environment Agency would recommend that a qualified Panel Engineer is consulted to assess any associated reservoir safety risk. It is worth noting that there is other legislation that may apply which could impact on what can and cannot be done.
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