JBM Solar has started stakeholder engagement on a more than 50MW solar farm co-located with battery energy storage.
The Byers Gill project is located between Darlington and Stockton-on-Tees.
Early engagement with selected stakeholders is planned for later this month.
Wider consultation with the public, where more detailed information will be shown, is planned for Spring 2023.
Michael Baker, Project Manager for JBM, said: “We are pleased to be announcing this nationally-significant project that, if granted planning permission, would help to address the current cost of energy crisis facing the UK.
“Engaging with selected stakeholders at this early stage is vital, and will allow us to use their local knowledge to help shape the project’s design at an early stage and understand local issues that are important to local communities before we present our plans to the wider community next year.”
Byers Gill Solar is classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project, or NSIP, as it will have a capacity of more than 50MW.
As a result, JBM is required to submit a Development Consent Order (DCO) application to the Planning Inspectorate to seek planning permission.
The application is expected to be submitted in Autumn 2023, with a final decision made in early 2025.
The project will connect into the existing National Grid substation at Norton, on the outskirts of Stockton-on-Tees, with underground cables running from the solar farm to the substation.