Renewable planning › Solar › Moray
Solar planning in Moray
Moray has decided 2 solar farms and approved 100% of them, taking a median of 3.4 months to decide. Consented capacity: 24 MW.
⚠️ Small caseload (2 decided). Percentages here move a lot with one more decision — read them as indicative, not as a reliable rate.
How Moray compares
Against the 298 UK authorities with 5+ solar decisions, Moray sits in the 77th percentile for approval rate (7 points above the England average) and the 23rd 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 Withdrawn and still-undecided applications are excluded, so a short bar can mean a quiet year rather than a strict council.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 (2)
| Scheme | MW | Status | Decided |
|---|---|---|---|
Craigellachie Biomass CHP Plant, Craigellachie- Solar Farm EDF Renewables · 23/01318/APP · 3.9 mo to decide | 4 | Awaiting Construction | 2024-01-04 |
Speyslaw Solar Farm Elgin Energy · 17/00808/APP · 2.9 mo to decide | 20 | Awaiting Construction | 2017-08-21 |
Does Moray approve solar farms?
Yes — of the 2 solar farms Moray has decided, 100% were approved (2 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 Moray?
The median time from application to decision is 3.4 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 Moray consented?
24 MW has been consented across 2 approved schemes. There are no applications currently awaiting a decision.
Other technologies in Moray
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 Approval rate is over decided applications only (approved ÷ approved+refused); withdrawn and undecided schemes are excluded.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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