Clacton
Clacton has 64 MW of clean power (all solar) approved and still not built: enough to supply a year's electricity to 23,000 homes. 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, £4.2m across the constituency's 45,395 homes.
Ranks 105 of 650 for clean power approved and not built.
What is stuck, and why
| Project and developer | Tech | Size | Why it is stuck |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thorpe Park Solar Farm, Thorpe Le Soken - Solar FarmLow Carbon UK Solar Investment Co Limited | Solar | 15,000 homes 40 MW |
Approved 3 years ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company |
| Halstead Road Eco Hub - Solar Farm & Battery StorageNaturalis Energy Developments Limited | Solar | 9,400 homes 26 MW |
Refused by Tendring Council in 2022Who can move it: Tendring Council |
| Hartley Wood Farm - Solar FarmBluefield Renewable Developments Limited/Anglo | Solar | 8,200 homes 22 MW |
Approved 4 years ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company |
What else is in the briefing
- All 5 projects, each with its planning reference and the organisation that holds the next decision
- Every approval a project still needs, and which of them the public can see
- What building them would mean here — community payments, business rates and construction work
- How Clacton compares with its neighbouring constituencies
- 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