Hownsgill Industrial Park (5 MW solar farm)
Hownsgill Industrial Park is a 5 MW solar farm project in County Durham, England. Its status in the Renewable Energy Planning Database (July 2026 extract) is: under construction since 15 February 2019; the record was last updated on 20 January 2020.
5 MWsolar farm
under constructionstatus in REPD
20 January 2020record last updated
County Durhamcouncil area
Planning timeline
| Date | Stage |
|---|---|
| 28 August 2015 | Application submitted |
| 1 March 2016 | Planning permission granted |
| 15 February 2019 | Construction started |
Project details
- Technology
- solar farm
- Capacity
- 5 MW
- Status (REPD)
- under construction
- Record last updated
- 20 January 2020
- Operator or applicant
- Project Genesis
- Planning authority
- County Durham
- Planning application reference
- DM/15/02364/FPA
- Site area
- 12.0 ha
- Address (REPD)
- E/o Hownsgill Industrial Park, Knitsley Lane, Consett
- Council area (by location)
- County Durham
- Time to decision
- 27 weeks
- REPD reference
- 5844
Who decides
| Applications | County Durham | UK |
|---|---|---|
| Decided applications (solar, wind, battery) | 89 | 10,236 |
| Refused | 22 (25%) | 19% |
| Solar refused | 7 of 51 | 12% |
| Onshore wind refused | 13 of 30 | 45% |
| Battery storage refused | 2 of 8 | 16% |
| Median time from submission to decision | 24.7 weeks | 17.0 weeks |
| Appeals lodged / allowed | 5 / 5 | — |
UK: all UK planning authorities. Counted under these REPD planning authority names: County Durham, Durham.
Other large projects within 10 km
| Project | Type | MW | Status | km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boundary Lane | wind farm | 6 | operational | 5.6 |
| Green Croft Solar Farm | solar farm | 5 | operational | 6.8 |
| Kiln Pit Hill Windfarm | wind farm | 12 | operational | 7.0 |
| Maiden, Annfield Plain | battery storage | 38 | approved, not built | 7.1 |
| Edge Lane, Maiden Law Solar Farm & Battery Storage | solar farm | 49.9 | approved, not built | 7.5 |
| Highfield Energy Park | solar farm | 40 | appeal lodged | 7.6 |
| Greenhead Energy Park | solar farm | 49.9 | application submitted | 8.3 |
| West Durham Wind Farm | wind farm | 24 | operational | 8.6 |
| Wagtail Lane, Craghead | solar farm | 27 | refused | 9.0 |
Status and dates as recorded in the Renewable Energy Planning Database (July 2026 extract); the database is compiled from public sources and can lag behind council decisions. Location: REPD grid reference (54.8392, -1.8419).