UK Consents 4 Solar-Plus-Battery Sites, Led by 800 MW Great North Road

The UK government granted development consent in October to four large solar projects that each include battery storage, led by the 1.12 GW (DC) Great North Road scheme near Newark on Trent, pv magazine reported on Oct. 28.

Great North Road Solar and Biodiversity Park and Frodsham Solar received their development consent orders on Oct. 27, according to pv magazine. Steeple Renewables Project and Green Hill Solar Farm were approved on Oct. 9 and Oct. 8. All four went through the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) process, which the Planning Inspectorate runs for English solar projects above 100 MW.

Where the grid connections land

Great North Road, developed by Elements Green, has secured a grid connection for import and export of 800 MW and will be built with a co-located 440 MW / 880 MWh battery, pv magazine said. The Planning Inspectorate's Oct. 27 notice describes a solar array, a battery system and grid connection infrastructure with a maximum generation capacity of 800 MW. Elements Green submitted the application on June 27, 2025, and the decision came about 16 months later.

The smaller projects show how developers are fitting into existing wires. Cubico's Frodsham Solar, near Chester, lists "around 150 MW" and has a connection agreement with SP Energy Networks for up to 100 MW at the existing Frodsham substation. RES's Steeple Renewables, in Nottinghamshire, is a 450 MW solar project with about 150 MW of battery output, and is expected to use grid capacity freed by the decommissioning of the neighboring West Burton power station. Island Green Power's Green Hill Solar Farm, north of Northampton, is planned at up to 500 MW with a battery installation.

What it means for grid capacity

The pattern is that approved capacity follows connection capacity. A site can be consented at 1.12 GW DC while its grid connection is 800 MW, and a battery of 440 MW / 880 MWh can shift output into hours when the connection would otherwise sit idle. Frodsham's 100 MW agreement against a 150 MW project and Steeple's reuse of a retired power station's capacity point the same way. Connection limits bite elsewhere in the UK too, as Voltgrid reported when Microsoft dropped a 50 MW Nscale site after the grid operator signaled power would not arrive until the 2030s.

What is not confirmed yet

A consent order is a planning decision, not a construction start or an energization date. pv magazine's report gives no commissioning dates or offtakers for the four projects, and none of the four has a named data center customer. The only precedent it cites is Cleve Hill Solar Park, the first solar project approved through the NSIP route in 2020, which entered commercial operation in July 2025, about five years later. The report also quotes the megawatt figures as developers' project documents list them, so final built capacities may differ.