Gate Burton Energy Park

Low Carbon is developing proposals to build a new solar and energy storage park, along with the infrastructure needed to export the electricity it generates onto the national grid.

Gate Burton Energy Park is proposed as being built on land near Gate Burton in Lincolnshire. The electricity the proposed energy park generates will be exported via a connection into the existing national electricity transmission system at National Grid's Cottam substation in Nottinghamshire.

The project is anticipated as having a generation capacity of around 500 megawatts (MW). This is equivalent to providing enough clean energy to power over 160,000 homes and avoid more than 100,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions every year.

UK Government has set ambitious targets to reach net zero by 2050. The recently published Energy Strategy detailed the aim to increase the UK's solar capacity five-fold by 2035 - equivalent to around 70 gigawatts (GW) total generation capacity. Gate Burton Energy Park would deliver a significant level of renewable energy generation and make a vital contribution to supporting our transition to a low carbon energy system while securing the energy needs of Great Britain.

The amount of electricity Gate Burton Energy Park could generate exceeds 50MW. It is therefore classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP). This requires us to submit an application for a Development Consent Order (DCO) to the Planning Inspectorate. Subject to achieving consent, construction would start no earlier than 2025.

Where we are now

DCO Planning consent granted

On 12th July 2024, Low Carbon received the DCO planning consent to develop the Gate Burton Energy Park.

Once built, the 500 MW project will provide enough solar capacity to power approximately 160,000 homes with clean, secure electricity and play a key role supporting the Labour government's mission of delivering a net zero grid by 2030. The project will also deliver a series of socio-economic and environmental benefits, including more than 350 jobs per annum during peak construction and a significant biodiversity net gain across the site.

Welcoming the decision Mike Rutgers, Managing Director of UK Development at Low Carbon, said: “We are delighted that the new Secretary of State has granted consent on the Gate Burton Energy Park, allowing us to progress to the construction phase of the project and reaffirming our position as the market leader for UK solar. As Gate Burton progresses, we look forward to continuing to engage closely with local residents, business owners and other key stakeholders to ensure we deliver this project responsibly.”

All the documents produced for our DCO application are available here on the Planning Inspectorate’s website or here on our website.

Survey work

To develop our proposals for Gate Burton Energy Park we are carrying out a variety of environmental and engineering surveys to identify the most appropriate areas of the site for development, along with the route an electrical connection from the energy park to Cottam substation could follow.

You may notice the presence of our teams carrying out various ecological and geophysical surveys in the area. To ensure we are engaging with the relevant individuals as our proposals evolve, we have appointed Gateley Hamer to act on our behalf and speak with landowners to confirm about their interests in land and details of any occupiers.