Renewable sites › Layer Farm - Solar Farm
Layer Farm - Solar Farm
Layer Farm - Solar Farm is operational in Colchester with a recorded capacity of 49 MW, and has been generating since 2024-10-01.
Planning and build timeline
| Application submitted | 2020-12-04 |
| Permission granted | 2022-01-13 13 months after submission |
| Operational | 2024-10-01 33 months after consent |
What this site sits on
The recorded coordinate falls on land surveyed as Grade 3 agricultural land. The published survey does not split Grade 3 into 3a and 3b, so this alone does not settle whether the land counts as best and most versatile.
REPD gives one representative coordinate per scheme, not the site boundary, so this describes the point on record rather than the whole site — a large site can straddle a designation edge. Boundaries come from planning.data.gov.uk, which publishes for England only.
Colchester’s record on solar
Colchester has decided 19 solar farms and approved 95%, taking a median of 3 months. See every solar farm decision in Colchester →
Other built sites within 15 km
| Site | MW | Distance |
|---|---|---|
Bellhouse South Landfill Gas · Operational | 3.9 | 2.3 km |
Land Adjacent Claypits Farm (a) Solar Photovoltaics · Operational | 5 | 2.9 km |
Land Adjacent Claypits Farm (b) (Birch Estate) Solar Photovoltaics · Operational | 2.3 | 2.9 km |
Birch Solar Farm & Battery Storage Solar Photovoltaics · Operational | 40 | 3.5 km |
Birch Solar Farm & Battery Storage Battery · Operational | — | 3.5 km |
Bellhouse Pit Landfill Scheme Landfill Gas · Operational | 2.7 | 3.6 km |
Birch Airfield Solar Photovoltaics · Operational | 5.6 | 4.1 km |
Colchester STW Sewage Sludge Digestion · Operational | 1.2 | 6.8 km |
How big is Layer Farm - Solar Farm?
Layer Farm - Solar Farm has a recorded installed capacity of 49 MW. That figure is the capacity registered in REPD, which is the scheme as consented — the metered output of a site can differ.
Who operates Layer Farm - Solar Farm?
REPD records the operator as Layer Solar Farm Limited. Ownership of built renewable assets changes hands regularly and REPD is published quarterly, so treat this as the operator of record rather than confirmation of who owns it today.
When was Layer Farm - Solar Farm approved and built?
The application was submitted on 2020-12-04. Permission was granted on 2022-01-13, 13 months later. The site became operational on 2024-10-01, 33 months after consent.
Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD), Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Open Government Licence v3.0, plus planning designation boundaries from planning.data.gov.uk (England only). REPD is published quarterly and covers schemes of roughly 150 kW and above. Capacity is the installed capacity on record, not metered generation. Operator is the operator of record at the last extract, not confirmation of present ownership. Reference 8251.
Novarly Parcel · official public data, read properly · parcel.novarly.com