On 14 October the UK government approved a major new solar project with a connection capacity of 500 MW, import and export. Tillbridge Solar Farm will be based several miles east of Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, in eastern England, and is a joint venture of renewable energy project developers Tribus Clean Energy and Recurrent Energy. The solar farm will be the 17th nationally significant clean energy project approved by the government since July 2024.
The government is consulting on mandatory community benefits for communities hosting ground-mount solar, meaning families who live near a solar farm would directly benefit through funding that can be spent on social priorities locally.
Businesses and families are still feeling the impact of the country’s reliance on volatile global gas markets, which helped cause the biggest cost-of-living crisis in memory, with the price of gas still 75% higher that it was before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The intention is to protect bill-payers from future price shocks by driving forward with power sources controlled within the country.
Energy minister Michael Shanks said: “Solar is one of the cheapest and quickest power sources we can build, it is crucial in our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower – giving us energy security, good jobs and growth across the country.”
