CONSTITUENCY BRIEFING · ENERGYMAP.APP
North West Essex
North West Essex has 623 MW of clean power (all solar) approved and still not built: enough to supply a year's electricity to 226,000 homes. Britain's grid bottlenecks still add to bills here: about £92 a year per household, £3.9m across the constituency's 42,575 homes.
Ranks 5 of 650 for clean power approved and not built.
What is stuck, and why
| Project and developer | Tech | Size | Why it is stuck |
|---|---|---|---|
| LongfieldLongfield Solar Energy Farm Limited (part of EDF Renwables) | Solar | 500 MW182,000 homes | Cannot connect to the grid until 2028, 5 years after it was approvedWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) and National Grid · earliest connection 2028 · planning ref EN010118 |
| Berden Hall Solar FarmBritish Solar Renewables | Solar | 56 MW20,000 homes | Approved 2 years ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref UTT/22/2046/PINS |
| Maggots End Road, Berden - Solar Farm & Battery StorageLow Carbon Limited | Solar | 50 MW18,000 homes | Refused by Uttlesford Council in 2026Who can move it: Uttlesford Council · planning ref UTT/25/1224/FUL |
| Thaxted - Solar farmLow Carbon Limited | Solar | 40 MW15,000 homes | Approved 3 years ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref UTT/21/1833/FUL |
| Parsonage Farm - Solar PV Farm & Battery StorageTrilogy Logistics REIT Limited | Solar | 30 MW11,000 homes | Approved less than a year ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref UTT/25/1742/FUL |
| Wickham Hall Estate Solar Photovoltaic FarmEndurance Energy Wickham Hall Limited | Solar | 20 MW7,300 homes | Approved a year ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref UTT/24/1417/PINS |
| Stanstead Solar ProjectManchester Airport Group Plc | Solar | 14 MW5,200 homes | Under constructionWho can move it: the developer · earliest connection 2027 (in construction) · planning ref S62A/22/0000004 |
| Merks Hill Farm, Braintree Road - Solar FarmSky UK Development Limited | Solar | 12 MW4,400 homes | Waiting 14 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: Uttlesford Council · planning ref UTT/25/1374/FUL |
| Wickham Hall Estate - Battery StorageEndurance Energy Wickham Hall Limited | Battery | 10 MW | Approved a year ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref UTT/24/1417/PINS |
| Dunmow Solar Farm, Chelmsford Road - Solar FarmDunmow Solar Limited | Solar | 9.9 MW3,600 homes | Under constructionWho can move it: the developer · earliest connection 2027 (in construction) · planning ref UTT/23/2136/FUL |
Plus 1 smaller projects — see the full seat page.
Compared with its neighbours
| Constituency | Approved, not built | Running | Paid to switch off |
|---|---|---|---|
| North West Essex | 623 MW | 68 MW | not visible |
| Brentwood and Ongar | 1 MW | 50 MW | not visible |
| Maldon | 139 MW | 63 MW | not visible |
| Chelmsford | 0.2 MW | 0 MW | not visible |
| Harlow | 56 MW | 0 MW | not visible |
| Witham | 24 MW | 193 MW | not visible |
North West Essex has more approved-and-waiting capacity than any of its neighbouring seats.
The rest of the briefing
- Every approval each project still needs, and which of them the public can see
- What building them would mean here — community payments, business rates and construction work
- Drafted parliamentary questions and letters, filled in with this seat's figures
- 3 story angles for local reporting
- A two-page PDF, and a newsroom edition with the references and who to call
Everything above needs no account, and neither does the full seat page, the method or this constituency's raw data. The account covers the packaged briefing and its PDF, and nothing else.