What is behind plans for an over £100m wind farm in Shippea Hill?

The fens are covered in peatland, which according to Cambridgeshire County Council is “critical for preserving global biodiversity, provide safe drinking water, minimise flood risk and help address climate change”.

Charlotte Cane, the Liberal Democrat MP for Ely and East Cambridgeshire, raised concerns that the turbines could become unstable in the peat soil.

Lejeune said peat was “something that crops up quite a lot with onshore wind farms, particularly in Scotland”.

He said the company would survey the peat and if it was deep they would consider “pile foundations”, long elements made of substances such as steel.

“One thing’s for sure, we look to minimise the impacts upon peat and the turbines will be sturdy. They’re going to be there for 40 years. We don’t want any issues with those,” he said.

He added land farming can continue around turbines and that it can be “good for the farm to have a diversification of income, which might be for the longevity of their farming enterprise”.

Nick Timothy, the Conservative MP for West Suffolk, has questioned the suitability of building Redmere near the key US Air Force bases of RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall.

“I have warned repeatedly that battery energy storage systems near important airbases is an invitation for hostile states and others to commit acts of sabotage,” Timothy said.

Lejeune acknowledged “they could be targeted like any infrastructure could, but we take these things seriously”.

“I’m not sure I’ve heard of an onshore wind farm being specifically targeted at all in the UK,” he added.

Tristan Gale, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for planning, called the proposals “unprecedented in scale” adding the turbines “would be gargantuan and seen from miles around”.