A total of 23 solar farm projects across England, Scotland and Wales were refused planning permission between January 2021 and July 2022.

That’s according to analysis from planning and development consultancy Turley which compares this number of refused projects with only four solar farms rejected in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

The report estimates that the energy generated by these rejected solar farms could have powered up to 147,000 homes per year.

Earlier this month, the UK solar industry criticised Liz Truss’ and Rishi Sunak’s views on solar farms. 

Emma Kelly, Associate Director at Turley, said: “The significant uplift in planning permission refusal for solar farms goes entirely against the proposals laid out in the government’s British Energy Security Strategy.

“Solar power currently contributes 14GW of energy at present, so we have some way to go before reaching the 70GW target.”