Solar, wind and battery projects near Colchester (CO6)
23 solar, wind or battery projects of 150 kW or more are recorded within 10 km of the centre of CO6 (Colchester): 4 are waiting for a planning decision, 11 approved but not yet running, 7 operational. The largest live scheme is Boxted (20 MW solar farm, application submitted on 2 November 2023, no decision recorded; REPD status may be out of date), 9.0 km away. Offshore, 3 wind farms are recorded within 40 km; the nearest is Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Scheme (108 MW, operational), 36.4 km away. Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database, July 2026 extract.
Projects within 10 km of CO6
Projects of 1 MW and more (10)
| Project | Type | MW | Status (REPD) | Submitted | Decision | Record updated | Council | km |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lodge Farm, Boxted Roadrooftop solar | rooftop solar | 1 | approved, not builtupdated Jul 2024 | Apr 2024 | granted Jun 2024 | Jul 2024 | Colchester | 6.6 |
| Birch Solar Farm & Battery Storagesolar farm | solar farm | 40 | operationalupdated May 2023 | Aug 2022 | granted Mar 2023 | May 2023 | Colchester | 7.3 |
| Land Adjacent Claypits Farm (b) (Birch Estate)solar farm | solar farm | 2.3 | operationalupdated Mar 2016 | Mar 2015 | granted Jun 2015 | Mar 2016 | Colchester | 8.9 |
| Boxtedsolar farm | solar farm | 20 | application submitted may be out of dateupdated Nov 2023 | Nov 2023 | — | Nov 2023 | Colchester | 9.0 |
| Land Adjacent Claypits Farm (a)solar farm | solar farm | 5 | operationalupdated Aug 2016 | Mar 2015 | granted Jun 2015 | Aug 2016 | Colchester | 9.1 |
| Skye Green Solar Farmsolar farm | solar farm | 15 | approved, not builtupdated Feb 2026 | Dec 2024 | granted Apr 2025 | Feb 2026 | Braintree | 9.2 |
| Layer Farm Solar Farmsolar farm | solar farm | 49 | operationalupdated Oct 2024 | Dec 2020 | granted Jan 2022 | Oct 2024 | Colchester | 9.5 |
| Stephenson Road - Urban Reserve Flexible Energy Facilitybattery storage | battery storage | 6 | approved, not built may be out of dateupdated May 2022 | May 2022 | granted Oct 2022 | May 2022 | Colchester | 9.7 |
| Boxted Airfieldsolar farm | solar farm | 18.8 | operationalupdated Aug 2015 | Jun 2014 | granted Sep 2014 | Aug 2015 | Colchester | 9.7 |
| Birch Airfieldsolar farm | solar farm | 5.6 | operationalupdated Jul 2015 | Jun 2014 | granted Sep 2014 | Jul 2015 | Colchester | 9.8 |
Smaller schemes under 1 MW, mostly rooftop solar (13)
| Project | Type | MW | Status (REPD) | Submitted | Decision | Record updated | Council | km |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plummers Road, Fordhamsolar farm | solar farm | 0.3 | application withdrawnupdated Jun 2023 | Mar 2023 | — | Jun 2023 | Colchester | 1.3 |
| Greenacres, Packards Lanerooftop solar | rooftop solar | 0.6 | approved, not builtupdated Feb 2025 | Nov 2024 | granted Jan 2025 | Feb 2025 | Colchester | 2.1 |
| Fordham Road, Wormingfordrooftop solar | rooftop solar | — | approved, not builtupdated Aug 2025 | Jul 2025 | granted Sep 2025 | Aug 2025 | Colchester | 2.2 |
| Hollywood Bowl, United Wayrooftop solar | rooftop solar | 0.3 | application submitted may be out of dateupdated Sep 2022 | Aug 2022 | — | Sep 2022 | Colchester | 7.3 |
| Birch Solar Farm & Battery Storagebattery storage | battery storage | — | operationalupdated May 2023 | Aug 2022 | granted Mar 2023 | May 2023 | Colchester | 7.3 |
| The Essex Golf/Leisure Club, The Airfield Earlsrooftop solar | rooftop solar | 0.2 | approved, not builtupdated Oct 2023 | Aug 2023 | granted Oct 2023 | Oct 2023 | Braintree | 7.3 |
| David Lloyd Leisure, United Wayrooftop solar | rooftop solar | 0.3 | approved, not builtupdated Sep 2023 | Jul 2023 | granted Sep 2023 | Sep 2023 | Colchester | 7.5 |
| Via Urbis Romanae, Whitmore Drive - Micro Energy Storagebattery storage | battery storage | 0.2 | approved, not builtupdated Jan 2026 | May 2025 | granted Dec 2025 | Jan 2026 | Colchester | 7.6 |
| The Big Yellow Self Storage Co, Bruff Closerooftop solar | rooftop solar | 0.2 | approved, not builtupdated Oct 2023 | Aug 2023 | granted Oct 2023 | Oct 2023 | Colchester | 7.7 |
| Jack Arnold, Lancaster Wayrooftop solar | rooftop solar | 0.2 | application submitted | Jun 2026 | — | — | Braintree | 7.7 |
| Gosbecks Roadrooftop solar | rooftop solar | 0.2 | approved, not builtupdated Jul 2025 | Apr 2025 | granted Jun 2025 | Jul 2025 | Colchester | 8.3 |
| Tesco Stores, Highwoods Squarerooftop solar | rooftop solar | 0.2 | application submittedupdated Mar 2026 | Feb 2026 | — | Mar 2026 | Colchester | 9.0 |
| Telford Way, Stephenson Road - Micro Energy Battery Storagebattery storage | battery storage | 0.2 | approved, not builtupdated Nov 2023 | Sep 2023 | granted Nov 2023 | Nov 2023 | Tendring | 9.7 |
Distance from the average position of the CO6 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 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 35 |
| Rooftop solar | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3.2 |
| Battery storage | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6.4 |
MW in pipeline: pending, approved and under-construction capacity.
Offshore wind farms within 40 km
| Wind farm | MW | Status (REPD) | km |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Scheme | 108 | operationalupdated May 2018 | 36.4 |
| Gunfleet Sands - (Demo) Extension | 12 | operationalupdated Nov 2017 | 37.0 |
| Gunfleet Sands II | 64.8 | operationalupdated Nov 2017 | 38.2 |
Operational, approved and pending offshore wind farms; distance from the district centre to the REPD grid reference of each wind farm (one point per site, so the nearest turbines can be closer or further). All offshore wind farms in UK waters.
How Colchester decides solar, wind and battery applications
| Applications | Colchester | UK |
|---|---|---|
| Decided applications (solar, wind, battery) | 24 | 10,236 |
| Refused | 2 (8%) | 19% |
| Solar refused | 1 of 19 | 12% |
| Battery storage refused | 1 of 5 | 16% |
| Median time from submission to decision | 13.3 weeks | 17.0 weeks |
| Appeals lodged / allowed | 2 / 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 CO6, 3 projects have 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.