Runcorn and Helsby
Runcorn and Helsby has 51 MW of renewables running, enough for 44,000 homes over a year, and nothing large waiting in the planning queue. When the wires are too full to carry the power, Britain pays wind farms to switch off instead. No wind farm here is paid that way — almost all of it goes to wind farms in Scotland. That cost is shared across every bill in Britain, so households here pay for it too: about £92 a year per household, £3.8m across the constituency's 40,863 homes. There is also 50 MW of wind running here on the local network. If that gets switched off, no national record shows it.
Ranks 464 of 650 for clean power approved and not built.
What is stuck, and why
| Project and developer | Tech | Size | Why it is stuck |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cholmondeley Road - Battery StorageP3P Partners LLP | Battery | 150 MW | Approved 4 years ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref 21/00565/FUL |
| Frodsham Solar Project & Battery StorageCubico Renewables | Solar | 147 MW53,000 homes | Waiting 14 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Planning Inspectorate (it decides nationally significant projects) · earliest connection 2029 · planning ref EN010153 |
| Frodsham Solar Project & Battery StorageCubico Renewables | Battery | 100 MW | Waiting 14 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Planning Inspectorate (it decides nationally significant projects) · planning ref EN010153 |
| Electricity Substation, Bellevue Lane - Battery StorageCoriolis Energy | Battery | 40 MW | Approved a year ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref 24/00935/FUL |
| Plot 8 Protos/Ince MarshesThis is Protos (Peel Environmental) | EfW Incineration | 35 MW | Under constructionWho can move it: the developer · earliest connection 2027 (in construction) · planning ref 16/03074/FUL |
| Hob Lane, Dunham On The Hill - Solar FarmBelltown Power Limited | Solar | 30 MW11,000 homes | Waiting 14 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: Cheshire West and Chester Council · planning ref 25/01339/FUL |
| Portmanmoor Road Industrial Estate, Splott - Battery Storage UnitsInfinis Energy Services Limited | Battery | 10 MW | Approved 2 years ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref 24/00935/FUL |
| Oil Sites RoadUK Power Reserve | Battery | 9.6 MW | Approved 9 years ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref 17/03414/FUL |
| Land At Elton FarmSEP Elton | Solar | 5 MW1,800 homes | Waiting 11.2 years for a planning decisionWho can move it: Cheshire West and Chester Council · planning ref 15/01909/FUL |
Plus 5 smaller projects — see the full seat page.
Compared with its neighbours
| Constituency | Approved, not built | Running | Paid to switch off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runcorn and Helsby | 0.7 MW | 51 MW | not visible |
| Chester South and Eddisbury | 19 MW | 30 MW | not visible |
| Chester North and Neston | 2.9 MW | 1.2 MW | not visible |
| Ellesmere Port and Bromborough | 0.3 MW | 0.2 MW | not visible |
| Tatton | 5.2 MW | 0 MW | not visible |
| Warrington South | 1.2 MW | 6.8 MW | not visible |
Chester South and Eddisbury next door has 19 MW waiting, more than Runcorn and Helsby's 0.7 MW.
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.