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Solar farm plans refused at highest rate for five years in Great Britain

Exclusive: Projects which would have cut annual electricity bills by £100m turned down

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.

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.

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.

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.

https://www.theguardian.com/environm...-great-britain