We have submitted a Response to Consultation on Electricity Infrastructure Consenting in Scotland organised by the Scottish Government. Please see the full submission here.
We propose that planning applications for solar farms up to 150 MW should be decided by the local planning authority (LPA), as is recommended for England.
This will increase the current limit of 50 MW, above which solar farm planning applications are considered by the Scottish Government.Consultation is best organised by the LPA rather than done centrally, as proposed by the Scottish Government.
Solar farm schemes up to 150 MW will still have a relatively modest annual generation.Our own research on projects under 50 MW in size indicates that LPAs do not discriminate on the grounds of size, and we have no reason to believe that projects up to 150MW will be penalised by LPAs.
We also note that LPA approval rates for solar farms are around 80 percent of applications made, and that local decision-making is more democratic than central-decision-making.
