Solar, wind and battery projects near Newmarket (CB8)
10 solar, wind or battery projects of 150 kW or more are recorded within 10 km of the centre of CB8 (West Suffolk): 2 are waiting for a planning decision, 2 approved but not yet running, 5 operational. The largest live scheme is Long Barrow Solar Farm Project (49.9 MW solar farm, application submitted on 16 July 2025, no decision recorded), 8.6 km away. Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database, July 2026 extract.
Projects within 10 km of CB8
Projects of 1 MW and more (8)
| Project | Type | MW | Status (REPD) | Submitted | Decision | Record updated | Council | km |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exningsolar farm | solar farm | 29.9 | operationalupdated Feb 2017 | Oct 2013 | granted Jul 2014 | Feb 2017 | East Cambridgeshire | 5.9 |
| Forest Heath Solar Farmsolar farm | solar farm | 5 | operationalupdated Mar 2015 | Nov 2012 | granted Jan 2013 | Mar 2015 | East Cambridgeshire | 6.0 |
| Land Southwest of Hightown Drove, Burwellbattery storage | battery storage | 90 | refusedupdated May 2026 | Jul 2025 | refused Mar 2026 | May 2026 | East Cambridgeshire | 8.3 |
| Long Barrow Solar Farm Projectsolar farm | solar farm | 49.9 | application submittedupdated Aug 2025 | Jul 2025 | — | Aug 2025 | East Cambridgeshire | 8.6 |
| Reach Roadbattery storage | battery storage | 49.9 | approved, not builtupdated Jun 2020 | May 2020 | granted Jul 2020 | Jun 2020 | East Cambridgeshire | 8.6 |
| Breach Farm Solar farmsolar farm | solar farm | 67 | operationalupdated Apr 2026 | Apr 2021 | granted Dec 2021 | Apr 2026 | East Cambridgeshire | 8.7 |
| Weirs Drove, Burwellbattery storage | battery storage | 30 | application submitted may be out of dateupdated Jul 2021 | May 2021 | — | Jul 2021 | East Cambridgeshire | 9.2 |
| Burwellbattery storage | battery storage | 50 | operationalupdated Mar 2024 | Dec 2017 | granted Apr 2018 | Mar 2024 | East Cambridgeshire | 9.3 |
Smaller schemes under 1 MW, mostly rooftop solar (2)
| Project | Type | MW | Status (REPD) | Submitted | Decision | Record updated | Council | km |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quotient Bioresearch Limited, Newmarket Roadrooftop solar | rooftop solar | 0.2 | approved, not builtupdated Jan 2026 | Sep 2025 | granted Nov 2025 | Jan 2026 | East Cambridgeshire | 7.4 |
| Breach Farm Solar farmbattery storage | battery storage | 0.7 | operationalupdated Apr 2026 | Apr 2021 | granted Dec 2021 | Apr 2026 | East Cambridgeshire | 8.7 |
Distance from the average position of the CB8 postcodes, not from your home. Projects of 5 MW and more have their own page with dates and planning history.
By type
| Type | All | Pending | Approved | Operational | Refused | MW in pipeline |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solar farm | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 49.9 |
| Rooftop solar | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
| Battery storage | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 79.9 |
MW in pipeline: pending, approved and under-construction capacity.
How West Suffolk decides solar, wind and battery applications
| Applications | West Suffolk | UK |
|---|---|---|
| Decided applications (solar, wind, battery) | 38 | 10,236 |
| Refused | 5 (13%) | 19% |
| Solar refused | 4 of 33 | 12% |
| Battery storage refused | 1 of 5 | 16% |
| Median time from submission to decision | 13.9 weeks | 17.0 weeks |
| Appeals lodged / allowed | 3 / 1 | — |
Is the status up to date?
32% of applications still shown as pending in REPD were submitted more than two years ago, and only 37% of pending records were updated in the last 12 months, so some of them may already have been decided. Near CB8, 1 project has a status that may be out of date (pending for over two years, or approved with a permission expiry date already passed). Check the council's planning register for the latest decision.