Utility-scale solar developer Photovolt Development Partners (PVDP) has submitted a development consent order (DCO) to the planning inspectorate for an 840MW solar development in Oxfordshire.
Due to the capacity of the proposals, the project is classed as a nationally significant infrastructure project (NSIP). The grid connection agreement, which will see 870MW supplied to the National Grid, projects that the project will come online in Autumn 2027.
The development represents an £800 million investment by PVDP into Oxfordshire. At the time of the project’s first proposal in November 2022, the DCO was estimated to be submitted at the end of 2023. If approved, the Botley West solar generation plant would be the largest in the UK.
The Germany-headquartered firm, which has a substantial pipeline in Japan but no other UK projects currently on the cards, held the second consultation phase through the end of 2023 until February 2024. In March, it received the response which suggested further revisions to the site’s design and layout. The council said that although the changes could reduce the scale of the project, they would help to minimise the magnitude and significance of effects on a sensitive environment.
The proposed development site covers an area of 1,300 hectares, and the proposed area of installed panels (excluding internal roads and support areas) is approximately 890 hectares. This is a reduction in the total site area from the initial consultation (which ran in 2022), which covered a total area of 1,400 hectares with 1,000 hectares of panels and other types of infrastructure.
The plans now include a ‘landscape and ecology masterplan’ and promise to deliver a minimum biodiversity net gain of at least 70%.
PVDP has also confirmed that it secured a grid connection with the National Grid to provide 840MW of energy to the grid, which would be generated across three sites, only one of which lies in the West Oxfordshire District Council’s remit.
The other two are located across the Cherwell District Council and Vale of White Horse District Council’s regions.
Energy secretary approves solar NSIPs
The DCO decision is expected towards the end of 2025 or early in 2026—given the stance that energy secretary Ed Miliband has taken so far, approving the UK’s biggest solar farm with a 600MW capacity in September.
At the end of last week (November 14), solar developer Green Nation announced plans to develop a solar and storage project. The developer confirmed it has a grid connection agreement for 750MW, but the size of the storage element is as yet unconfirmed.
Green Nation is aiming to submit its application for a Development Consent Order (DCO) to the UK government in spring 2026, following two rounds of public consultations. If this timeline is met, a decision from the Secretary of State for Energy, Ed Miliband, is expected in the summer of 2027.
Consultations for NSIPs from Recurrent and Windel, Island Green, Cubico Sustainable Investments and Low Carbon are all currently ongoing; the UK government is targeting an operational solar capacity of 40GW by 2030.
