As of December 2022, there were 12 planned nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs), with only two having gained a development consent order (DCO) from the energy secretary.
That is a state of play hard to imagine now, particularly since Ed Miliband, in his role as secretary of state for energy security and net zero, consented another three major NSIPs within a few days being in power, and many more being planned.
With a government more closely aligned with the needs of the solar industry and an objective of reaching 45GW-47GW solar generation capacity by 2030, large-scale solar development is pegged to expand across the UK in 2025. We round up the NSIP projects already on the planning inspectorate’s radar that are set to progress in 2025.
Pre-application projects
As part of the pre-application process for an NSIP, developers gauge what the response might be to their project, running local consultations and scoping reports to assess environmental impact.
Between January and March 2025, a DCO application is expected for the East Park development, a ground-mounted solar photovoltaic generating station with a 400MW capacity and a 100MW BESS. UK developer Brockwell Solar and Storage, formerly RNA Energy, opened statutory consultation for the project in September this year. If the proposals are approved, developers say construction would begin in 2027.
Low Carbon’s Beacon Fen Energy Park, a 400MW solar PV power plant co-located with a 600MW battery energy storage system (BESS) set for land east of Ewerby and four kilometres east of Sleaford is in the pre-application phase. Public consultation ran between 22 January and 3 March this year, and a DCO application is expected to be made in March 2025.
Also in the pre-application phase is a development brought forward as a joint project between ib vogt and Firma Energy under the developers’ joint venture, Firma Vogt Solar. The Dean Moor Solar Farm would have a capacity of up to 150MW and benefit from a co-located 100MW battery energy storage facility. A DCO application is expected in February 2025.
Island Green Power (IGP) unveiled plans in September for a utility-scale solar and storage development with a potential generating capacity of 500MW. The BESS is also expected to have capacity of 500MW. The development is in the pre-application stage, with the first stage of community consultations beginning in Autumn this year; IGP expects the planning and approval process to take between two and three years, and plans to submit the DCO application to DESNZ in late 2025.
More from IGP: the Green Hill Solar Farm consists of an electricity generating station with a capacity of up to 500MW and will include energy storage – the project is in the pre-application phase and a DCO is expected to be submitted in April 2025.
Up next, IGP’s Light Valley Solar plant, a solar farm with associated BESS located near Selby in North Yorkshire, connecting to National Grid’s Monk Fryston sub-station. A 500MW grid connection to the transmission network has been secured. And IGP says the development will be designed to fulfil this connection efficiently. The project comprises five site panel areas, located in rural areas to the north and east of Selby, covering an area of approximately 1066 hectares. An application is expected in Q1 2025.
IGP is also in the pre-application phase of its Light Valley Solar plant and the Lime Down Solar Project. For the former, a solar farm with associated BESS located near Selby in North Yorkshire, connecting to National Grid’s Monk Fryston sub-station, a 500MW grid connection to the transmission network has been secured. The project comprises five site panel areas, located in rural areas to the north and east of Selby, covering an area of approximately 1066 hectares. An application is expected in Q1 2025.
The Lime Down Solar Project, comprises a 500MW export connection, 250MW import connection and a 1,000MWh battery. The application is pegged for Q3 2025. A scoping report for IGP’s the Droves Solar Farm was accepted on 18 December but an application for a DCO is not expected until mid November 2025.
The recently renamed Great North Road Solar and Biodiversity Park will have a maximum generating capacity of 800MW. The development is currently still in the pre-application stage, having closed its first consultation stage in February this year after six weeks of community feedback and meetings. As a result, the developer has partnered with nature charities and farmers to support biodiversity and agrivoltaics at the site. An application is expected from Elements Green between April and June 2025.
The Steeple Renewables project, a solar generation site to be located in Nottinghamshire, is being planned by RES. Comprising up to 400MW of solar energy generation and a 200MW BESS, the project is in pre-application and a DCO submission is expected in Q2 2025.
RWE’s Tween Bridge 600MW solar development, to include storage and be located next to the operational Tween Bridge onshore wind farm, is also still in pre-application. The application is expected in Q4 2025, and if the development progresses as expected the site could be operational by 2029.
Another from RWE is the High Grove Solar project. The development is in the pre-application phase and would have a generating capacity of approximately 720MW. An application is not expected to be submitted until between October and December 2025. Its Lostrigg Solar, with possible generation capacity of 100MW, is and due to apply for a DCO before then, in July 2025.
Downing Renewable Developments, an offshoot of Downing LLP, is in the pre-application stage for its Kingsway Solar with a generation capacity of up to 500MW. The site will also feature battery storage. An application for a DCO is expected in Autumn 2025.
Another from Downing Renewable Developments, an application for Meridian Solar is expected to be submitted Q3 2025 and will comprise solar PV and BESS facility with a generation capacity of up to 750MW.
Between January and March 2025, a DCO application is expected for the East Park development, a ground-mounted solar photovoltaic generating station with a 400MW capacity and a 100MW BESS. UK developer Brockwell Solar and Storage, formerly RNA Energy, opened statutory consultation for the project in September this year. If the proposals are approved, developers say construction would begin in 2027.
Ridge Clean Energy is listed on the planning inspectorate’s site as being in pre-application for a 250MW solar plant accompanied by a 400MWh BESS but at this stage no date is given for when an application might be made.
Fosse Green Energy Limited, a partnership between Northeast England-headquartered developer Windel Energy and Canadian Solar subsidiary Recurrent Energy, launched the second public consultation for a solar-and-storage development to be based 9km south west of Lincoln; the size of the project is yet to be confirmed but the developers have given notice that they will make an application for a DCO. The application is expected to be submitted in September 2025.
Global renewable energy investor Cubico Sustainable Investments launched the second phase of consultations on 7 November for a 130MW solar-based NSIP in Cheshire. It will run until 19 December and, subject to consent, the project is anticipated to be operational by 2029 and comprise ground-mounted solar PV modules and a BESS, the capacity of which has not yet been confirmed. The DCO application is expected in April 2025.
One Earth is a proposed solar farm with associated battery storage and infrastructure, located primarily in Nottinghamshire. The project, for which a 740MW export/import connection has been agreed with National Grid, is being developed in partnership between Ørsted and PS Renewables. Public consultation closed in July and a DCO application is expected between January and March next year.
In May, RWE Renewables launched a second round of consultation on the 320MW Peartree Hill Solar Farm proposed to be near Beverly in East Riding of Yorkshire. Its application is expected in January 2025.
Public consultation opened in September 2023 for the Rosefield solar farm backed by EDF Renewables and PS Renewables. Updated proposals, based on feedback and stakeholder engagement, saw a 40% reduction in solar panel area, fivefold increase in the area set aside for nature and a new footpath, were open for public consultation between 18 September and 2 December this year. Situated between Buckingham and Aylesbury, the project owners intend to also put battery energy storage at the plant, which has a 500MW grid connection secured. An application is expected to be made towards the end of 2025.
Pre-examination solar projects
During pre-examination, which runs for up to three months, comes after the planning inspectorate accepts the DCO application – an Examining Authority is appointed and is made up of one or more inspectors. Anyone who wants to have their say needs to register at this stage.
Utility-scale solar developer Photovolt Development Partners (PVDP) submitted an application for a DCO for the 840MW Botley West solar development in November, a year later than was estimated at the time of the project’s first proposal. According to the developer, the application entered pre-examination on 16 December. This step in the process usually takes about 3 months, so examination can be expected to begin in March.
A solar development brought forward by RWE, the Byer’s Gill Solar Farm, is currently in the examination phase of the DCO process. The proposals, for an 180MW solar PV plant that will be located across Darlington and Stockton-on-Tees, were submitted for consent on 9 February 2024. The planning inspectorate accepted the application on 8 March, moving it into the pre-examination phase. No expected decision date is given, but presuming the full three months’ pre-examination period was used, a decision will be announced early next year.
The Springwell Solar Farm, by EDF Renewables and Luminous Energy, is currently in the pre-examination stage. Registration to give feedback will be opened by the planning inspectorate in early 2025, so examination can be expected to have begun by end of April.
Evolution Power’s Stonestreet Green solar farm and energy storage, with a generation capacity up to 165MW and 99.9MW export capacity, was accepted for examination in July 2024. In theory, if the six-month time limit is met, by end of January 2025 a recommendation to the energy secretary will be made.
From UK-based solar developer Boom Power, Fenwick Solar Farm is in the pre-examination stage with the second consultation on the project having closed on 31 May. The 237.5MW co-located solar-plus-storage project is expected to cover approximately 325 hectares, and Boom has already secured an import and export grid connection at Thorpe Marsh Power Station, a former coal-fired power station set to be transformed into a green energy hub. The planning inspectorate is holding the window to register for input on the project open until 24 January 2025—originally, Boom expected to submit a DCO in spring 2024.
Under examination, recommendation
Next, as the title suggests, examination sees the DCO application assessed by the authority and other relevant parties before a recommendation is made to the secretary of state as to whether the project should be consented. The process can take up to six months.
The Helios Renewable Energy Project by Enso Energy is in the examination phase. Consisting of ground-mounted solar arrays and an energy storage system, the site has a nameplate capacity of 250MW and will generate up to 190MW. Examination opened on 3 December and is expected to close on 3 June 2025.
BayWar.e’s Oaklands Solar Farm is at the recommendation stage. The examining authority will have written its recommendation report to the secretary of state by 19 March 2025.
Tillbridge Solar Limited is being developed by a joint venture partnership between Tribus Clean Energy and Recurrent Energy. It is in the examination phase, with the application for a DCO accepted by the Planning Inspectorate on 9 May 2024. Counting forward nine months (for pre-examination and examination), a recommendation should be made in January.
At the end of November, Boom announced the closure of the examination period for its 400MW East Yorkshire Solar Farm. Now the examination period has closed, the examining authority, which is appointed by the planning inspectorate, has three months to make its recommendations to the energy secretary. Secretary of state for energy security and net zero, Ed Miliband, will then have three months to decide whether to grant the DCO. The planning inspectorate foresees that the recommendation phase will be completed on 21 February, and the developer reckons a decision will come in May 2025.
DCO decisions
A decision on Ecotricity’s 500MW Heckington Fen solar plant was expected this year, but in October DESNZ announced a planning decision would be delayed to 2025. The secretary of state issues a letter to Ecotricity and the site’s landowners, the Crown Estate and the Duchy of Lancaster requesting updated information and granted developers an extension to 24 January. DESNZ states the decision was made “reluctantly”.