A solar power plant with a generation capacity of 99.9 MW has been submitted to the Melton Borough Council by Canadian independent power producer (IPP) Boralex.
The 99.9MW solar power plant would be built on approximately 118 hectares of land near Melton Mowbray, in Leicestershire. This is the first planning application for a power station of more than 50 MW to be submitted to a local planning authority (LPA).
At the end of 2024, the The government has published a revised national planning policy framework (NPPF). In addition to changing the wording in the document to give additional weight to proposals for clean energy developments, the threshold at which a project is considered a nationally significant infrastructure project (NSIP) was also revised.
The amendment, which came into effect at the end of 2025, stipulates that any generation project exceeding 100 MW will be referred to the Secretary of State for a Development Consent Order (DCO).
Notably, while LPA level projects previously hovered around 49.9 MW, Boralex’s entry, to bypass the old 50 MW threshold, is at 99.9 MW and hovering on the new limit.
Brookfield buys Boralex
The planning application was submitted shortly before Boralex announced that Canadian investment company Brookfield Asset Management will acquire a majority stake in the company.
Under an agreement with La Caisse, Boralex’s largest shareholder with approximately 15% of the company’s common stock, Brookfield acquired a 70% stake, while La Caisse increased its shareholding to 30%.
The transaction implies a total enterprise value of CA$9 billion (£4.83 billion) for Boralex. Once the transaction is completed, Canadian IPP will operate independently in its core markets of Canada, the US, France and the UK. The company currently has 3.8 GW of solar PV, wind, hydro and battery energy storage assets in these markets, of which more than 90% have contracts for an average term of 10 years.
The support from both Brookfield and La Caisse will help IPP accelerate the growth of its development pipeline, which includes 1.6 GW of late-stage development projects and a further 5.6 GW of mid- and early-stage pipeline.
The transaction will “fund Boralex’s strong pipeline and position the company for the next phase of growth,” the company said.
Patrick Decostre, president and CEO of Boralex, said: “In addition to its financial capabilities, Brookfield together with La Caisse brings complementary expertise in Boralex’s capabilities and will enable us to take advantage of significant economies of scale and opportunities, particularly in the areas of procurement, energy commercialization for large companies and sharing best practices across their various platforms.”
Read more about the acquisition on our sister site, PV technology.
Brookfield participated in the transaction with institutional partners, including Brookfield Renewable Partners. Brookfield Renewable Partners has a 20% stake in the British utility Octopus Energy.
Brookfield Asset Management is also backing OnPath Energy, having acquired it within a year in 2023 deal worth around $1 billion (£820 million). It also made its first foray into the UK’s rooftop solar sector in November 2024 with the £220 million acquisition of Atrato Onsite Energy‘s commercial and residential rooftop solar portfolio.
