Green energy company Telis Energy UK has unveiled plans for its first large-scale solar development requiring a development consent order (DCO).
Telis Energy UK is part of the Telis Energy Group, a European green energy development platform established in 2022 and targeting a development pipeline of 10 GW by 2030, delivered through four subsidiaries in France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy.
The UK subsidiary’s solar power plant proposals, called Leoda Solar Farm, would deliver a generation capacity of 500MW to 600MW, combined with a battery energy storage system (BESS) of an as yet undisclosed capacity.
The scale of the development means it is classified as a Nationally Important Infrastructure Project (NSIP) and will therefore have to undergo a rigorous planning process and ultimately be approved by Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.
The non-statutory consultation for the project will formally start on January 23 and will last six weeks. According to Telis, the development will be “landscape-driven” with a design that prioritises “enhancing local biodiversity, preserving the natural character of the area and promoting coexistence between renewable energy infrastructure and the surrounding landscape” .
The indicative development area covers 2,400 hectares of agricultural land north-west of Leadenham, Lincolnshire. The specific land area has been chosen so that development can benefit from natural screening. Telis said it will also plant native hedges and trees.
Telis also points to the existence of other local renewable energy projects, which it would “coordinate and collaborate with” to minimize cumulative impacts.
Lincolnshire NSIP Projects
The area is linked to several major solar projects, with EDF Renewables and Luminous Energy’s 800MW Springwell Solar Farm currently in the preliminary investigation phase.
In February 2024, developer Downing Renewable Developments (DRD) unveiled plans to develop a 750MW solar and co-located storage project in Lincolnshire. A DCO application for the Meridian Solar project is expected to be submitted in the third quarter of 2025.
The Mallard Pass solar power plant, developed by Windel Energy and Canadian Solar, received a DCO from the Minister of Energy shortly after the July election. It is expected to generate around 350MW of solar energy and cover 880 hectares of land on either side of the East Coast Main Line near Essendine, partly in South Kesteven in Lincolnshire and partly in Rutland.
The Beacon Fen Energy Park, a 400MW solar PV power plant co-located with a 600MW battery energy storage system (BESS) under development by Low Carbon, is expected to submit a DCO application in March this year.
Nearby, in Nottinghamshire, Elements Green is taking a similar nature-focused approach to Telis with its 800MW Great North Road Solar and Biodiversity Park, for which the second round of statutory consultation has been launched.
