Solar farm applications
Our Climate and Ecological Emergency Declaration aims to reduce carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, and plan for a more sustainable future.
We recognise that solar energy can help meet targets for reducing carbon emissions and reliance on fossil fuels, as well as provide energy security. Solar energy can also contribute to sustainable agriculture, giving farmers and landowners an income stream, providing benefits to local ecosystems and wildlife and supporting local employment.
We support the principle of solar energy development, provided we can help manage the environmental impacts via the planning application process.
You can find more information in our Solar Farm Development Supplementary Planning Document.
Longfield Solar Farm
This site is on land north east of Chelmsford, between Boreham, Hatfield Peverel, Great Leighs and Terling. The site falls across both the Chelmsford City Council and Braintree District Council administrative areas.
About the decision-making process for Longfield
A solar farm of this scale is a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project. This means the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy needs to approve it, through a Development Consent Order (DCO).
We were a consultee on the DCO application and were not responsible for deciding on it.
The Planning Inspectorate accepted the DCO for examination on 28 March 2022. The Secretary of State granted development consent on 26 June 2023.
You can find details of the application, including the Secretary of State's decision, statement of reasons and the Order granting development consent on the Planning Inspectorate’s website.
About the proposal
The proposal for the solar farm includes:
- ground mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) panels to generate electricity from the sun
- battery storage to allow Longfield to import, store and export electricity to the National Grid
- grid connection infrastructure, which allows export or import of up to 500MW of electricity to and from the National Grid
- supporting infrastructure, such as sub-stations, inverters, transformers, switchgear and internal cabling
- areas for landscaping, habitat and biodiversity improvements and mitigation
- other associated infrastructure needed for the construction and operation of the site, such as construction compounds, access tracks and welfare facilities
The project is a joint venture between EDF Renewables (EDFR) and Padero Solar, and the applicant is Longfield Solar Energy Farm Limited.
You can find out more about the project, consultation and FAQs on the Longfield Solar Farm project website.