Renewable planning › Solar › Lisburn and Castlereagh
Solar planning in Lisburn and Castlereagh
Lisburn and Castlereagh has decided 6 solar farms and approved 100% of them, taking a median of 9.3 months to decide. Consented capacity: 77 MW.
⚠️ Small caseload (6 decided). Percentages here move a lot with one more decision — read them as indicative, not as a reliable rate.
How Lisburn and Castlereagh compares
Against the 298 UK authorities with 5+ solar decisions, Lisburn and Castlereagh sits in the 77th percentile for approval rate (7 points above the England average) and the 2nd 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 Withdrawn and still-undecided applications are excluded, so a short bar can mean a quiet year rather than a strict council.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 (6)
| Scheme | MW | Status | Decided |
|---|---|---|---|
Solar PV Development in Lisburn Whitemountain Quarries Limited · LA05/2024/0626/F · 10.7 mo to decide | 0.7 | Awaiting Construction | 2025-06-30 |
Hillside Solar Farm Lightsource Renewable Energy · LA05/2015/0305/F · 10.6 mo to decide | 25.2 | Operational | 2016-05-19 |
Former Maghaberry Airfield Lightsource Renewable Energy · S/2014/0913/F · 15.4 mo to decide | 25.7 | Operational | 2016-04-26 |
Ballinderry Road Solar Phase 2 (Lisburn) RAD Energy One/ Island Green Power · LA05/2015/0157/F · 4.9 mo to decide | 7 | Operational | 2015-10-14 |
Ballinderry Road Solar Phase 1 (Lisburn) Hadstone Energy/Island Green Power · S/2014/0492/F · 3.7 mo to decide | 13.5 | Operational | 2014-11-11 |
Land to the South of 15 Lough Road Lightsource Renewable Energy · S/2013/0625/F · 7.9 mo to decide | 4.8 | Operational | 2014-07-18 |
Does Lisburn and Castlereagh approve solar farms?
Yes — of the 6 solar farms Lisburn and Castlereagh has decided, 100% were approved (6 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 Lisburn and Castlereagh?
The median time from application to decision is 9.3 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 Lisburn and Castlereagh consented?
77 MW has been consented across 6 approved schemes. There are no applications currently awaiting a decision.
Other technologies in Lisburn and Castlereagh
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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