FAQs

Lime Down Solar Park Limited is a 100% subsidiary of IGP UK Projects Limited, which is in turn a 100% subsidiary of Island Green Power’s UK group holding company, Island Green Power Group Limited. All the companies are registered in England and Wales. 

Established in 2013, Island Green Power (IGP) is a leading developer of utility-scale solar projects and battery energy systems. IGP delivers renewable energy solutions that create lasting value for the communities it serves, protecting the environment while fostering economic growth and energy independence. Macquarie Asset Management, a leading global asset manager, acquired 50% of the company in 2022, increasing its stake to 100% in 2025.

Since launch, IGP has successfully delivered more than 34 solar projects worldwide that have generated more than 3 GW of energy capacity. This includes 20 solar projects in the UK. These range in size from below 5 MW to Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects such as Cottam Solar Project, currently the UK’s largest consented solar project. Cottam will generate 600 MW of clean, renewable and secure electricity and includes 600 MW of battery storage that will store then release energy as needed.

At IGP, we manage the entire development process for our renewable energy projects, from identifying suitable land and assessing feasibility to securing planning permission, grid connection permits, and advancing projects to the notice to proceed stage.

In all we do, we are committed to responsible land use and believe that the development and commercial delivery of utility-scale solar farms can be achieved in harmony with their surroundings.

For more information, please visit the Island Green Power website at: www.islandgp.com

Island Green Power is bringing forward proposals to build a new solar and energy storage project in Wiltshire, including the underground cable connection into the national grid at Melksham Substation. Known as Lime Down Solar Park, the Project could deliver approximately 500 megawatts (MW) of homegrown, renewable electricity through ground mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. This is enough clean, affordable electricity to power 115,000 homes.

The Project would also include a battery energy storage system, which would provide an important balancing service for the grid, allowing electricity generated by the panels to be stored at times of low demand, then exported onto the system when demand increases.

‍The solar park is located largely within the administrative boundary of Wiltshire Council, with small areas of existing highway within the administrative areas of South Gloucestershire Council.

It is proposed as being built across five land parcels comprising approximately 749 hectares located to the north of the M4, southwest of Malmesbury. The electricity generated by the solar park is expected to be exported to the national grid at Melksham Substation by installing an underground cable. This electrical connection will form part of the design for the Project.

The sites making up the solar park are identified as follows: 

• Lime Down A – located to the east of Commonwood Lane  

• Lime Down B – located to the east of the Fosse Way  

• Lime Down C – lies across the Fosse Way to the east of Alderton  

• Lime Down D – lies immediately to the north of the Great Western Railway line and Hullavington, south of Bradfield Wood  

• Lime Down E – located to the south-west of Rodbourne, and south of Corston

Around 479.5 ha of this land is proposed as being required for installation of solar PV, battery storage, and associated infrastructure. The remaining 269.5 ha would provide areas dedicated to ecological mitigation, measurable Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) delivery, landscaping, and agricultural land managed for environmental enhancement and habitat creation.

To view our latest Project location and site boundary map, please click here to be redirected to our Project Overview webpage.

All our application documents can be accessed via the Planning Inspectorate’s website at: https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/EN010168/documents

To view our latest Project location and site boundary map, please click here  to be redirected to our webpage Project Overview.

We have secured a connection agreement with National Grid for the electricity generated by Lime Down Solar Park to be exported into the national electricity transmission system via its existing Melksham substation.

We are proposing to build the connection between the solar park, BESS and Melksham substation by installing underground cables. We are not proposing to build the connection using pylons and overhead lines.

To find out more about how the Project would connect into the grid, please click here to be redirected to our Connecting to the grid webpage.

We expect the development process, including DCO submission and examination, to span two to three years. We submitted our DCO application to the Planning Inspectorate on Friday 19 September 2025. PINS has reviewed the materials and accepted the application for examination, which is a statutory part of the process for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.  

The examination of the DCO application will commence in the new year and will be held for up to six months. More details will be publicised once they are confirmed.

Subject to achieving consent, construction could start in mid-2027. We estimate it would take around two years to build, with the site potentially being operational from mid-2029.

Our indicative timeline can be found on The Development Process webpage linked here.

Lime Down Solar Park will provide a significant amount of clean electricity for business and homes in the region, supporting national and regional aims to decarbonise our electricity systems and bolster our energy security.

The way we consume energy is already changing. The move towards renewables and the transition away from fossil fuels is an environmental and economic necessity. National electricity demand is increasing and expected to double by 2050. To hit our net zero and climate change targets, boosting our solar energy capacity is an essential component.

Solar power is a clean, predictable, homegrown source of energy that gets power into the system and people’s home faster than any other renewable.  The Government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, published in 2024, sets out the target to more than treble solar power by 2030, equivalent to around 50 gigawatts (GW) of generation capacity (linked here). Expected to deliver 500 megawatts of clean, predictable and affordable energy, Lime Down Solar Park would contribute to the Government target to deliver a cheaper, zero-carbon electricity system by 2030 and accelerate to net zero.

A Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) is a project over a certain size or scale which means it is considered by the Government to be of national importance.

Lime Down Solar Park is classified as an NSIP because the amount of electricity it is anticipated as delivering (up to 500MW) exceeds the minimum 50MW threshold set out in the Planning Act 2008 which qualifies it as an NSIP.

For projects with a generation capacity of less than 50MW, a developer is required to apply for planning permission from the relevant local planning authority under the Town and Country Planning Act (TCPA).

The development regime for an NSIP comes under the Planning Act 2008. This means we need to submit an application for a Development Consent Order (DCO) to build, operate and decommission Lime Down Solar Park to the Planning Inspectorate rather than a local planning authority.

In the case of energy-related NSIPs, the Planning Inspectorate acts on behalf of the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. It will carry out an examination of our application for development consent for Lime Down Solar Park and then make a recommendation to the Secretary of State on whether to grant consent. The Secretary of State will make the final decision on whether to grant consent for the Project.

While our DCO application has not been submitted to the local planning authorities, Wiltshire Council, South Gloucestershire Council and stakeholder groups are playing a key role in the planning process and have been consulted as the Project has progressed.

You can find more information about the application process for NSIPs on the Planning Inspectorate website here.

Yes. Public consultation forms an important part of the pre-application process for NSIPs.

We have been committed to early and continuous engagement to ensure that the development of our proposals for Lime Down Solar Park were informed and shaped by community input. Local communities, residents, and councils play a vital role in this process. The design process for the project has been iterative and informed by feedback received during the three stages of community consultation undertaken.

We held three stages of public consultation: an initial stage of ‘non-statutory’ consultation in early 2024, a second stage of ‘statutory’ consultation on our updated plans for the Project in early 2025, and a Targeted consultation focused on some minor amendments to the Project boundary compared to that presented at Stage Two in Summer 2025.

To find out more about the consultation process and these stages of consultation, please visit our Overview of consultation stages webpage linked here.

As the applicant, we have a duty to demonstrate how we have taken your views into account in developing our final proposals for Lime Down Solar Park. The application we submitted to the Planning Inspectorate includes a Consultation Report summarising the issues raised in feedback to consultation along with an explanation of how we have taken views into account to develop our final proposals.

You can view all our application documents, including the Consultation Report via the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) Lime Down Solar Park webpage or by clicking here.

We submitted our application to the PINS on Friday 19 September 2025. PINS has reviewed the materials and accepted the application for examination on Friday 17 October 2025.

Between Thursday 30 October 2025 and Friday 09 January 2026, you can register as an Interested Party in the application. Interested Parties may participate in the Examination of the application and will receive formal notifications as the Examination progresses.

Please click here to view our Home page to find out more.

Our communications lines remain open should you have any questions. To keep informed on the Project development process, please register your details with us by clicking here.

Island Green Power offers a community benefits package with the renewable energy schemes that it promotes. We believe those communities living closest to the proposed Project should benefit from it – with these communities being best placed to recommend what a ‘community benefit’ should be. 

This is why we invited your ideas and suggestions on this point during our first stage of consultation (in March – April 2024) and our second stage (in January – March 2025). Thank you to all those who submitted feedback on this and let us know their views on what kind of benefits (both onsite and offsite) would be most suitable for the area.

Further information on community benefits is available via our Community benefits and Biodiversity Net Gain webpage, linked here.

A well-managed solar farm can be a nature reserve – helping boost and protect wildlife and extend biodiversity. As the panels are set on posts with minimal disturbance to the ground, much of the land is available to support new plants and animal life.

To achieve a biodiversity net gain, our plans should ensure that local wildlife habitats are in a measurably better state than before. We aim to exceed the baseline requirement for developers to boost biodiversity by a minimum 10 per cent, by proposing measures such as:

• Delivering substantial new hedgerow and tree planting;

• Reinforcing planting at existing hedgerow and field boundaries;

• Extensive grassland habitat creation;

• Managing grassland habitats under solar PV panels by using a balance of grazing and cutting to maximise ecological benefits; and

• Providing enhancement opportunities for habitats of local, regional or national significance.

To meet our net zero targets, we need battery storage to store surplus energy generated by renewables for when it is needed. National Grid estimates that over 35.5 gigawatt hours (GWh) of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) will be required to meet the UK’s net zero target by 2050 – the BESS we are proposing would deliver storage for up to 250 MW of electricity.

We have listened to feedback from local residents and community stakeholders, particularly those that relate to Battery Energy Storage and working to ensure that our project design approach addresses issues raised. We are committed to delivering a safe and responsible solution that will meet or exceed the latest regulatory and compliance standards, including the National Fire Chief Council Fire Safety Guidelines. 

Battery Energy Storage Systems under consideration incorporate several safety features to prevent issues such as overheating or short-circuiting. These include thermal management systems, built-in sensors, and monitoring software to detect and address potential problems early. Alongside, we will conduct thorough safety assessments in collaboration with fire service authorities.

We have submitted a comprehensive outline battery safety management plan to the Planning Inspectorate as part of our application for development consent.

Lime Down Solar Park Limited, a company within the Island Green Power (‘IGP’) group of companies, proposes to apply for development consent from the Secretary of State to allow it to construct, operate, maintain, and decommission a solar energy and energy storage development. This will be known as Lime Down Solar Park (the ‘Project’).

IGP has an 11-year track record in successfully delivering utility-scale solar projects and battery storage systems in the UK, Spain, Italy, Australia and New Zealand. As is common practice in the solar industry, Lime Down Solar Park Ltd has been established by IGP as a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to develop the Project.

At the initial stage of developing proposals for the Project, Lime Down Solar Park Ltd has entered into option agreements with landowners. These agreements put in place legally binding obligations to lease land that is being proposed for solar panels, substations, energy storage and other associated developments relating to the Project. 

The option agreements ensure that the land will be available to lease subject to the Project being granted development consent. These agreements are industry standard and provide landowners with certainty and protection over the use of their land while securing development rights for Lime Down Solar Park. The option agreements give Lime Down Solar Park exclusive rights during both the option period and the lease term. 

The agreements set out the duration of the option period when Lime Down Solar Park has sole discretion to decide whether to proceed with taking the lease including conditions under which the option can be exercised and the right to carry out surveys. As with any option agreement, landowners during the option period are restricted from entering into similar agreements or granting interests with other parties without Lime Down Solar Park’s consent and are legally obliged to comply with the terms set out in their agreements. 

As a responsible developer, throughout the Project development process, our goal is to work collaboratively with landowners, their land agents and other representatives. Our aim is to ensure that all parties fully understand the legal process including the benefits and obligations from the legal terms and arrangements.

Lime Down Solar Park will not require any public money, subsidy or funding. This is one of the benefits of solar, compared to other forms of renewable (and non-renewable) energy generation – if the site is commercially viable, and costs are as expected, projects like Lime Down Solar Park can be viably delivered by private investment with no impact to the taxpayer.

Furthermore, the proposals for Lime Down Solar Park include a community benefit package, which we seek to provide to the local area. To determine the specifics of this fund, we are taking into consideration the ideas and suggestions you submitted to us in response to our Stage One and Stage Two consultations.

At the end of the Project’s operational life, all Solar PV Sites would be decommissioned and the land restored to its original use and condition as far as practicable. We expect that most of the solar equipment – including panels, cabling, inverters, BESS and substations – to be recycled and disposed of, in line with industry practice. We expect there to be even greater opportunities for recycling at the end of the Project’s design life.

There will be opportunities for the retention of a range of biodiversity improvements, including established habitats, hedgerows and woodland, beyond the decommissioning of the Project, ultimately enhancing the ecological value of the area.

A requirement to decommission the scheme will be part of the DCO itself; failing to comply with that requirement would be a criminal offence. We have produced an Outline Decommissioning Strategy as part of the EIA and submitted this with the Development Consent Order (DCO) application. A final decommissioning strategy will be prepared and agreed with the relevant authorities at that time of decommissioning and will include detailed measures and timescales. We expect decommissioning to take between 12 and 24 months.

As part of the pre-application process for a Development Consent Order (DCO) Application, it is our responsibility to consult parties who hold an interest in any land that is within the draft Order limits for the project. This is a statutory requirement under section 42(d) and section 44 of the 2008 Planning Act. 

Following the statutory consultation for Lime Down Solar Park, which took place between Wednesday 29 January and Wednesday 19 March 2025, we continued to refine our plans for the Project which include the draft Order limits (i.e. the proposed location area). We therefore continued our environmental assessments to better understand the interests that may be held in areas of land that may be included as part of our proposals.

As part of these preliminary assessments, we sent letters to parties we believe may have land interests affected (along with adjacent owners to unregistered land) by the Lime Down Solar Park proposals. This is to confirm whether the landowners’ contact details obtained from HM Land Registry are up to date, and to ensure that we have correctly identified which parties may have an interest in the relevant land areas.

These parties are those who we may have been be required to consult with during our statutory consultation under section 42(d) and section 44 of the 2008 Planning Act.

If you have received an LIQ and require assistance completing the form, please contact a member of the Dalcour Maclaren land referencing team on 03331 885374 or limedownsolarpark@dalcourmaclaren.com

Contacting land interests does not mean we intend to use compulsory powers for land that may be required for the Project. In fact, part of the purpose of land referencing is to enable the Project to understand land interests. With meaningful conversations with interests, this will help inform the design which in turn assists in avoiding people’s land, including homes or gardens. Although the Development Consent Order (DCO) process can use compulsory acquisition powers to obtain land, our goal is to deliver Lime Down Solar Park on land where the owner has voluntarily agreed to its use.

We are committed to ensuring that the site will not result in any increase in flood risk anywhere else off-site, and we will ensure the Project itself is resilient to current and future flooding risks. This is one of the core design principles for Lime Down Solar Park, listed on our Design Principles webpage linked here.

Flood risk has been assessed in detail within Environmental Statement (ES) Volume 1, Chapter 11: Hydrology, Flood Risk and Drainage.

This work includes baseline analysis, modelling of runoff, and review of climate change allowances.

The Project is designed to ensure runoff rates and volumes remain consistent with greenfield conditions. Measures such as permeable surfacing, infiltration features, swales and attenuation storage will manage surface water.

As a result, no increase in flood risk is expected on or off site, including adjacent communities and downstream settlements.

Embedded mitigation and design measures will be secured through a Construction Environmental Management Plan.

You can view all our application documents, including the Environmental Statement and the Consultation Report via PINS website at: national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/EN010168/documents 

The biggest risk to the UK’s domestic food production comes from climate change, and other environmental pressures including soil degradation, water quality and changes in biodiversity. Further information on this is available in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' UK Food Security Report linked here . Our proposals would deliver approximately 500 MW of clean, renewable solar energy and secure a biodiversity net gain. By temporarily taking some farmable land out of production, the Project would also result in improved soil and water quality, given the land will have had time to rest without regular ploughing, fertilising, and spraying with pesticides and herbicides during its 60-year lifetime.

We carried out surveys on the agricultural land within the area to identify its Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) grading. 67% of the land surveyed for Lime Down Solar Park is non-BMV land. ES Volume 1, Chapter 17: Soils and Agriculture provides a more detailed overview of likely effects as a result of the Project. Impacts our Project would have on farmable areas are reversible, and our plans include restoring the land to its original use and condition as far as practicable. Where BMV land is included in the Project, we have worked closely with farmers to use their least productive land where we can.