Huge plans revealed for major new solar farm on outskirts of Blackpool
The solar farm could generate sufficient energy to meet the annual domestic needs of 4,465 households
Proposals for a moderately-sized solar farm near the outskirts of Blackpool have been conditionally approved.
Councillors on Fylde’s planning committee agreed to give planning consent to the application for a 14.77-hectare solar farm with associated equipment and infrastructure at a site off Peel Road in Westby with Plumtons.
The scheme, from applicants Energi Generation, is a utility-scale project, but sits well below the 50MW threshold that classifies installations as “Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects” requiring national development consent.
Although granting approval, the committee did so on the basis the final decision be delegated to planning officers pending a s106 agreement in which the applicants would make off site provision of a Skylark and Lapwing bird habitat, management of that habitat and monitoring of those bird populations.
What report says
A planning officer’s report stated: “Planning consent is sought for the installation of a 13MW solar farm that will have an operational life of 40 years, with the development being decommissioned and land reinstated to agriculture post this timeframe.
“The submission confirms that the solar farm has been co-located adjacent to a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) that was approved by planning permission in January 2025, and positioned adjacent to the western edge of the application site and Peel Road.
“Once operational the solar farm and the BESS will work in tandem, enabling the energy which is generated from the solar farm to be stored within the battery system, prior to its release from the BESS into the National Grid network during peak demand.”
The submission from the applicants stated that this “approach will enable a consistent and reliable supply of electricity generated from a renewable source.”
It adds that “collectively, the BESS and solar farm are crucial forboth renewable energy generation and flexible grid management.”
Applicants Energi Generation confirms that the solar farm could generate sufficient energy to meet the annual domestic needs of 4,465 households, a saving of approximately 2918 tonnes of CO2 per annum.
All of the energy will be directed to the National Grid, with the point of connection being via that BESS which is in turn linked to the substation positioned to the opposing side of Peel Road.
The photovoltaic panels, or arrays will laid out in rows across the field, facing south.
They will be set back 10m from the boundary of each field so as to provide a stand off distance to the existinghedgerow boundary to Peel Road and enable the provision of new hedgerows and trees.
The officer’s report concludes: ” On balance, it is considered that the substantial benefits associated to renewable energy provision, as well as those other benefits that the development will bring outweigh any harm reported.”
The recommendation was therefore that the decision to grant planning permission be delegated to the Service Director for Planning and Building Control on completion of the provision and management of the Skylark and Lapwing habitat.