Solar farms are being refused planning permission in Great Britain at the highest rate in five years, analysis has found, with projects which would have cut £100m off annual electricity bills turned down in the past 18 months.
Planning permission for 23 solar farms was refused across England, Wales and Scotland between January 2021 and July 2022, which could have produced enough renewable energy to power an estimated 147,000 homes annually, according to analysis of government figures by the planning and development consultancy Turley.
The refusals have jumped significantly since the start of 2021 – the research found only four projects were refused planning permission during 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 combined.
Of the 27 declined solar farms between 2019 and 2022, 19 are in Conservative constituencies. Four were in Labour constituencies, three in Scottish National party constituencies, and one in a Liberal Democrat constituency.
There are fears such refusals could increase further as the Tory leadership contenders, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, have made disparaging comments about solar farms.
South-west and eastern England had the highest number of refusals in the last 18 months, with four projects turned down in each region. Wales, the West Midlands and Scotland each had three refusals, while the east Midlands, north-east and south-east of England each had two planning applications turned down.
Analysts at the thinktank Green Alliance said the rejected projects were large solar farms at an average of about 30MW each, which may account for the planning refusals as it is easier to get smaller farms approved.
However, it added that this should not be a reason to refuse planning permission, as larger solar farms could cut bills further.
It said the refused solar farms could have cut about £100m off Great Britain’s electricity bills this year.
Dustin Benton, the policy director at Green Alliance, said: “We should be building as much cheap, clean energy as we can to reduce people’s energy bills and cut our reliance on Russian gas. This additional solar power generation, if it displaced gas, would have saved over £100m per year in wholesale energy costs.”
“By integrating solar panels into fields, even farmers on high-grade land can continue to grow crops at the same time as enjoying the steady income from solar panels.”
If Truss proceeds with her plans to crack down on solar farms she would be going against the government’s energy security strategy published this spring.
The strategy set out ambitions of generating 70GW of energy from solar technology by 2035. It also promises to consult on amending planning rules to strengthen policy in favour of development on non-protected land, as well as supporting solar that is co-located with other functions such as agriculture and established energy infrastructure.
Emma Kelly, an associate director at Turley, said: “Solar should be a key contributor to the energy market, especially as we look to diversify our renewable energy products to ensure maintenance of supply.
“The significant uplift in planning permission refusal for solar farms goes entirely against the proposals laid out in the government’s British energy security strategy. Solar power currently contributes 14GW of energy at present, so we have some way to go before reaching the 70GW target. If Liz Truss goes ahead with her plan, the British energy security strategy will need to be rewritten.
“Biodiversity is certainly a factor we need to consider with solar farms whilst the ongoing rise of the cost of energy has shown just how important renewable energy generation is for the future of the UK. A growing trend of refusing planning permission for renewable energy projects that are designed to support energy security is a huge step backwards on our road to net zero.”
