Renewable planning › Solar › Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon
Solar planning in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon has decided 4 solar farms and approved 100% of them, taking a median of 10.4 months to decide. Consented capacity: 41 MW. 1 application still awaiting a decision.
⚠️ Small caseload (4 decided). Percentages here move a lot with one more decision — read them as indicative, not as a reliable rate.
How Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon compares
Against the 298 UK authorities with 5+ solar decisions, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon sits in the 77th percentile for approval rate (7 points above the England average) and the 1st percentile for speed.
Decisions by year
Solar decisions by the year the decision was issued (Renewable Energy Planning Database). Withdrawn and still-undecided applications are excluded, so a short bar can mean a quiet year rather than a strict council.
Every recorded scheme (5)
| Scheme | MW | Status | Decided |
|---|---|---|---|
Solar Farm Development in Magheralin Renewable Energy Systems RES ltd (Beaufort) · LA08/2024/0259/F · 16.5 mo to decide | 29.9 | Awaiting Construction | 2025-07-21 |
Castor Bay Water Treatment Works, Castor Bay Road - Solar Farm NI Water · LA08/2025/0042/F | 4.99 | Application Submitted | 2025-01-13 |
Drumcairn Road Private Developer · LA08/2016/0388/F · 9.7 mo to decide | 1 | Planning Permission Expired | 2017-02-01 |
Laurelhill BNRG Northern Power · LA08/2015/0381/F · 11.1 mo to decide | 8.5 | Operational | 2016-05-24 |
Gilford Road Kingspan Energy · N/2013/0454/F · 1.9 mo to decide | 1.3 | Operational | 2014-01-22 |
Does Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon approve solar farms?
Yes — of the 4 solar farms Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon has decided, 100% were approved (4 granted, 0 refused). The UK-wide rate for solar is 93%. Note this is a small caseload, so treat the percentage as indicative rather than statistically robust.
How long does a solar farm application take in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon?
The median time from application to decision is 10.4 months, against a UK median of 2.3 months for solar. That is measured between the submission and decision dates recorded in REPD, so it reflects the whole determination period including any extensions.
How much solar capacity has Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon consented?
41 MW has been consented across 4 approved schemes. A further 1 application awaits a decision.
Other technologies in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon
Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD), Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Open Government Licence v3.0 — 2026 Q1 extract. Approval rate is over decided applications only (approved ÷ approved+refused); withdrawn and undecided schemes are excluded. A permission later expired still counts as approved because consent was granted. REPD covers schemes of roughly 150 kW and above, is published quarterly, and does not record refusal reasons — so nothing here explains why a scheme was refused. Screening context for site selection, not planning advice.
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