Solar farms are being refused planning permission in Britain at the highest rate in five years, analysis shows, with projects that would have cut £100m off annual electricity bills rejected in the past 18 months .
Planning permission was refused for 23 solar farms in England, Wales and Scotland between January 2021 and July 2022, which could have produced enough renewable energy to power around 147,000 homes a year, according to analysis by government figures from planning and development consultancy Turley.
Refusals have increased significantly since the start of 2021 – the investigation found that just four projects were refused planning permission in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 combined.
Of the 27 solar farms downsized between 2019 and 2022, 19 are in conservative constituencies. Four were in Labor constituencies, three in Scottish National Party constituencies and one in a Liberal Democrat.
There are fears these rejections could increase further as Tory leadership candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have made disparaging comments about solar farms.
The South West and East of England had the highest number of refusals in the past 18 months, with four projects rejected in each region. Wales, the West Midlands and Scotland had three refusals each, while the East Midlands, North East and South East England had two planning applications refused.
Analysts at the Green Alliance thinktank said the rejected projects were large solar farms averaging around 30MW each, which could explain the planning refusals, as smaller farms are easier to get approved.
However, he added that this should not be a reason to refuse planning permission, as larger solar farms could reduce bills even further.
He said the rejected solar farms could have cut around £100m off Britain’s electricity bills this year.
Dustin Benton, policy director of the Green Alliance, said: “We should be building as much clean and cheap energy as we can to lower people’s energy bills and reduce our dependence on Russian gas. This extra solar generation , if it had displaced gas, it would have saved more than £100 million a year in wholesale energy costs.”
“By integrating solar panels into fields, even farmers with high-quality land can continue to farm while enjoying consistent income from solar panels.”
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If Truss goes ahead with his plans to crack down on solar farms, it would go against the government’s energy security strategy published this spring.
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The strategy sets out an ambition to generate 70 GW of energy from solar technology by 2035. It also promises to consult on changing planning rules to strengthen policy in favor of development on unprotected land, as well as support solar energy that is placed with other functions such as agriculture and established energy infrastructure.
Emma Kelly, associate director at Turley, said: “Solar should be a key contributor to the energy market, particularly as we look to diversify our renewable energy products to ensure supply is maintained.
“The significant increase in refusals of planning permission for solar farms goes completely against the proposals set out in the Government’s UK Energy Security Strategy. Solar power currently provides 14 GW of power, from so we still have a long way to go before we reach the 70GW target If Liz Truss goes ahead with her plan, Britain’s energy security strategy will need to be rewritten.
“Biodiversity is certainly a factor we need to consider with solar farms, while the ever-rising cost of energy has shown how important renewable energy generation is to the UK’s future. A The growing trend of refusing planning permission for renewable energy projects designed to support energy security is a major step backwards on our path to net zero.”