Energy minister backs anti-solar protests

THE renewable energy minister has backed anti-solar protests, telling a rally of campaigners in Westminster that their concerns are “completely understandable”.

Andrew Bowie joined dozens of campaigners outside Parliament yesterday and called for more protections to stop large-scale solar farms being built in the countryside.

“There are so many communities across the country who are seeing a huge increase in applications for largescale solar farms,” he said. “And the concern, and in some cases panic, this is causing in communities is completely understandable and legitimate.”

Mr Bowie said the Government was actively looking into what it could do to protect valuable farmland from being used for large-scale solar farms.

Restrictions on solar farms would be another rollback on the Government’s net zero policies, which have come under pressure from some within the party.

The Government wants 70Gw of solar energy in the electricity grid by 2035, more than four times the current level, to help meet its net zero goals.

But it is facing opposition from residents in Conservative constituencies and backbench MPS over the growth of large-scale solar farms in the countryside.

Rishi Sunak in his leadership bid promised that agricultural land would not be covered with solar panels, but campaigners say not enough has been done to change the planning process.

Projects that have faced protests include a vast 2,500-acre development project at Botley West, in the Oxfordshire countryside, and a similarly sized proposal from solar developers Sunnica on the border between Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.

“It’s incumbent on all of us involved in the system to listen to the concerns and do what we can to mitigate that,” Mr Bowie said.

In England, large solar farms must get a green light from the energy secretary but are considered of “critical national priority”, meaning consent is expected to be given.