Image: Sebastian Hermann, Unsplash
RWE Renewables has withdrawn its proposed 99.9MW Butterfly (Glöyn Byw) solar-plus-storage project in Wrexham, Wales, after concluding that the availability of grid connections made the scheme unviable at this stage.
“After careful consideration and a detailed assessment of the availability of grid connections and the overall viability of the project, we have decided not to proceed with plans for the proposed Butterfly/Glöyn Byw solar farm at this time,” the company said in an emailed statement.
The project was planned on three plots of agricultural land south of Wrexham, with underground cabling to the Legacy National Grid substation. RWE had identified access to the electricity grid as a key design challenge from the outset, with two alternative connection routes not being assessed until September 2025.
RWE’s withdrawal comes at a time when the UK grid connection queue remains seriously overloaded, with NESO and Ofgem pushing through reforms following a 460% increase in applications between January and June 2025 and delays of up to 15 years. The removal underlines that grid restrictions are no longer just a bottleneck at transmission level; they are now shaping project design and early stage viability decisions for solar and storage developers in the UK.
The company emphasized that solar energy and co-location remain central to its UK strategy. “RWE remains committed to investing in renewable energy in Britain and bringing forward projects that can be delivered efficiently and contribute to both local and national energy needs,” the report said.
Wrexham’s decision comes amid wider concerns about the pace of network investment. A new report from the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) shows that almost two-thirds of distribution system operators in the EU are exempt from drawing up network development plans, and that fragmented planning obligations continue to undermine the efficiency of Europe’s increasing network investments.
RWE expanded its global activities PV portfolio to 7.01 GW in 2025 in 2025 and plans €35 billion of investments by 2030, including 6 GW of new flexible capacity and storage in Germany. The company’s latest results confirm that Wrexham’s cancellation is a result of grid constraints rather than any strategic shift away from solar or co-location storage.
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