Analysis: The pros and cons of solar farm development

The sun may be noticeable by its absence at this time of year, but the row about the pros and cons of solar farms rages on.

According to guidance issued by the last Conservative government, local councils are advised not to grant planning permission for new solar farms on prime agricultural land if they pose a threat to food security.

See also: Three large solar farm approvals stir food security debate

A National Policy Statement published in early 2024 made clear that, where possible, solar developers should target brownfield sites, previous industrial land, or contaminated land for solar farms.

Best and Most Versatile (BMV) farmland – effectively Grades 1 to 3a – should generally be avoided.

That statement went some way to appease farmer fears that food security was at risk of being sacrificed in the interests of green energy generation.

But that reassurance proved short-lived, as the change of government in July 2024 also signalled a change of approach.

Protected status

The official line from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, now headed up by former Labour leader Ed Miliband, is that BMV farmland is still protected.

According to a spokesman: “Our planning policies guide solar developments away from using the best and most versatile agricultural land.”

However, the spokesman went on to confirm that “solar is at the heart of our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower”, pointing out that the energy secretary “has consented nearly 2GW of nationally significant solar since July”.

Indeed, one of Mr Miliband’s first actions following his appointment was to sign off three large sites in the east of England that had been subject to review – all part of his target to triple the amount of solar power in the UK to 40GW by 2030.

These projects – Mallard Pass in Rutland and Lincolnshire, Sunnica in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, and Gate Burton in Lincolnshire – all encroach on good, productive farmland. 

The Sunnica site alone will cover an area the size of 2,115 football pitches – 12 times larger than the UK’s current biggest solar farm in North Wales.

Meanwhile, plans for an even bigger facility – the Botley West Solar Farm in Oxfordshire – took a major step forward in December, as the developers’ plans for an 840MW site, supplying electricity to 330,000 homes, was accepted for examination by the Planning Inspectorate.

Nationally significant

These mega-farms are all designated as nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIP), where sign-off is undertaken by a minister of state, rather than left to local authorities.

The government insists that each development proposal “will continue to be subject to thorough scrutiny, which means our plans to boost solar power and energy security do not risk the UK’s food security”.

Others are not convinced. David Bean, parliament relations manager at the Countryside Alliance, points to the “disparity between the government’s rhetoric and its actions”, particularly in relation to the recent large-scale solar farm approvals.

“What is often overlooked is that the desire to avoid the use of BMV land is only one consideration that is taken into account,” he says.

“Another is the availability of electricity substations which determine where you can site a solar farm.

“If you have an area where there is a reasonable ability to connect to a substation, but also a lot of the land around it is very good agricultural land, then the desire to avoid BMV land ends up being overridden.”

Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) chief executive George Dunn also points out that, even though the National Policy Statement technically still applies, the Labour government has recently consulted on national planning policy, which could remove protection for BMV land from official guidance.

“We are still awaiting the government’s response,” says Mr Dunn.

“So far, BMV land is still part of the guidance, but it is not being adhered to by the current government in the decisions it has been making, and we believe it is its intention to remove it from the guidance.”

Policy framework

The NFU is not so sure, but says it would prefer to see statements about protecting BMV land included in the full text of the National Planning Policy Framework, instead of just a footnote.

“The current government takes the view that it’s supposed to be guidance, rather than a rulebook, so there is no need to bolster it further,” says the NFU’s chief renewable energy adviser, Jonathan Scurlock. “We’d like that tightened up.”

The NFU is also slightly more relaxed than some about the siting of solar farms on BMV land – mindful of the income generation opportunities it can present to some of its members.

While solar farms should, as far as possible, be located on lower quality agricultural land, this principle is less critical in parts of the country where BMV land is plentiful, says Dr Scurlock.

“I think it is more important if you are in of parts of the UK where BMV land is scarce,” he says, pointing to Wales and Cornwall, where there is plenty of poorer quality land on which to develop solar, and where the BMV guidance is applied more strictly.

However, Dr Scurlock says the NFU is concerned about the emergence of clusters of projects where there is a lot of grid connection availability available – for example in north Lincolnshire and mid-Norfolk.

Solar installations can benefit farmers and the environment

© Tim Scrivener

While proposals to site new solar installations are almost always controversial, for many owner occupiers, they represent an opportunity for a more stable, diversified income.

County Durham beef, sheep and arable farmer Clare Wise is currently trying to secure a solar installation covering 15% of her family farm

“Currently, farm incomes are barely minimum wage and are falling,” she says.

“Mixed farming has been hit the hardest year after year, which means we have no profit to reinvest.”

Ms Wise says much is made of the food security versus solar energy debate.

“But the reality is, without this diversification, our business cannot survive.

“As subsidies have been removed, input costs have skyrocketed, and climate impacts worsen, we’ve no option but to look to diversification.”

Ms Wise is quick to point out that 85% of the farm’s best land is due to remain in full production, and sheep will continue to graze the land beneath the solar panels.

Solar advantages

Tom Johnston – a former dairy farmer who is now involved with the solar sector in Northern Ireland – suggests the greater threat to food security comes from climate change.

He points to a Defra report which suggests that climate change could reduce the proportion of BMV farmland from 38% of agricultural land to 11% by 2050, if green energy is not embraced.

“Without solar farms, we are set to lose over 20% of BMV land, making growing food in our country even harder,” he says.

Mr Johnston is convinced that installing solar panels can also be good for biodiversity, for carbon sequestration and, above all, for the soil, allowing overworked land time to restore itself.

And he dismisses claims that, once put under solar, land will never return to food production.

“The majority of solar farms are leased on a 40-year timeline, aligned with the temporary planning permission they are granted,” he says.

“Following the 40 years, they can be returned to farming, with the benefits of recuperating the soil during this period.”

Solar panels are the cheapest form of renewable energy, he adds, while returns to farmers from leasing the land can be three to four times greater than arable farming.