UK Renewable Energy Developer Exagen has received a building permit for a co -location Solar Energy and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project in the West Midlands.
After a successful appeal process, the Planning Inspectorate has granted an exagen full building permit for the Holly Lane Energy Park, which marks the first planning of this year’s company.
The development, located near Solihull, West Midlands, will consist of a 34 MWP Solar PV energy plant, with a 75 MW Bess located on a separate plot divided by a public highway. A new substation will be built and located next to the Bess, which will connect to the nearby 132kV top line. The sun section of the project will connect to the new substation via a buried cable that follows the public highway between the two plots of Land.
Although a start date of the construction has not yet been announced, the project has already approved an accelerated grid connection date and will connect to the grid in 2027.
In January 2024, the Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council was committed to 430 MW to generate renewable energy in the Council area by 2041, of which 10.6 MW is currently installed. According to Exagen, the Holly Lane Solar PV energy center will contribute 6% of the capacity needed to help the council reach its target.
Planning applications were originally submitted to both Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council and Warwick Council in September 2023. However, this was refused permission from both councils in February and April, with Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council stated that the development would represent damage to the green reason that was not justified by the capacity for generating energy that it would create. After the submission of an appeal with minor changes to the draft in July 2024, and a hearing in the appeal in January 2025, both councils have now reversed their decisions.
Andrew Mott, head of planning and the environment at Exagensaid: “For the UK to reach its 2050 Net Zero -target white at the lowest possible costs, there must be an increase in the use of renewable energy generation in addition to energy storage; To achieve goals, about three projects of this size must be approved and built every week.
“We are now working to prepare for construction and to get most of an accelerated schedule connection date. We welcome both the thoroughness with which the planning inspection has considered the profession and the timeliness of their decision, only two weeks after the hearing was held. “
An exciting time for Exagen
Exagen has undergone some important changes in recent months, the most important of which came in September last year.
Last fall, the company announced that it was subject to a complete buy -out of the generation arm of the largest energy supplier of the UK, Octopus Energy Generation. Under the 100% buy -out, Octopus Energy Generation is now fully owned by Exagen’s Development Pipeline, which carries more than 2.4 GW of solar and BES projects throughout England and contributes to the Gargantuan 3.7GW -Portefeuille of Octopus Energie, worth around £ 6.7 billion.
This approval of the building permit is not only the first of 2025 of Exagen, but also the first since the Octopus -Buyout at the end of last year.
