Energy secretary Ed Miliband has granted a development consent order (DCO) for a solar and storage project put forward by BayWa.r.e.
The Oaklands Farm Solar project in South Derbyshire will cover 400 acres, with an export capacity of 162.3MW and import of 37.5MW, the capacity of the energy storage system on the site. The solar PV element of the project will have 138MW of generation capacity.
BayWa.r.e submitted its application for the project on 8 February 2024. The Examining Authority recommended the project for acceptance on 19 March 2025.
The secretary of state considered the overall planning balance and concluded that the proposed development’s public benefits outweigh the harm identified, and thus granted the DCO.
According to the Planning Inspectorate, this was the 94th energy application out of 158 applications examined to date and was completed within the statutory timescale.
BayWa.r.e has committed to provide an annual community benefit of £55,000 per year for the 40-year life of the project. It will also provide a 125% biodiversity net gain in habitat units across the site.
The company first announced the project in 2021, and has held several rounds of community consultation on the project.
It is the eighth NSIP to be granted by the current energy secretary, Miliband.
Island Green Power DCO submission accepted
In other NSIP news, the Planning Inspectorate has accepted a DCO submission from Island Green Power (IGP) for the 500MW Green Hill Solar Farm, which would be located near Wellingborough in Northamptonshire.
IGP submitted its application for a DCO on 23 May. The site will cover about 1,200 hectares of predominantly agricultural land, with just under half (550ha) covered by the solar PV panels, 190ha for environmental mitigation and enhancement and the remaining land to consist of existing vegetation, field margin buffers, further vegetation planting (around existing features such as watercourses), areas between panels and internal accesses.
A decision from the secretary of state is expected in Q4 of 2026. IGP said it will connect the project to the grid in 2029.
This comes soon after IGP opened a second round of community consultation for another prospective 500MW solar power plant, the East Pye Solar project that would be co-located with a battery energy storage system (BESS) with as-yet unconfirmed capacity.
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