Steeple Renewables Project: 600MW Solar and Storage Plan Approved, £224m Local Investment Expected

What happened: the Steeple Renewables Project gets consent

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has granted development consent for the Steeple Renewables Project, a solar farm planned in Nottinghamshire, near Sturton-le-Steeple. The official decision notice puts the scheme at about 450MW of solar generation plus about 150MW of battery storage, which stores power when supply is plentiful and releases it when demand rises.

The application was made by Steeple Solar Farm Limited. It was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate on 14 May 2025, accepted for examination on 11 June 2025, and examined over six months, with local people, the local authority and other interested parties able to take part. The Examining Authority sent its recommendation to the Secretary of State on 10 July 2026, and the consent decision was made by Baroness Curran on behalf of the Energy Secretary. The Inspectorate notes this was the 115th energy application out of 183 examined so far.

The developer behind the scheme, RES, says it has been working on the project since 2023. In its own announcement of the decision, RES estimates the project will bring about £224 million of investment into the local economy across construction and operation, supporting about 400 jobs, alongside spending with nearby businesses and business rates over its operating life. RES also says the solar element could generate enough electricity each year for about 180,000 homes, which it puts at roughly half the households in Nottinghamshire. The next steps it names are detailed design, meeting the consent requirements and preparing for delivery.

Key numbers in the decision

Sources: GOV.UK, Steeple Renewables Project development consent decision announced, 9 October 2026, and RES, announcement of the consent decision. Investment, jobs, homes and community figures are RES estimates, not government guarantees.

One sum helps read the jobs figure clearly, and it is worked out from the developer’s own numbers. About £224 million spread across about 400 supported jobs is about £560,000 of local investment per job supported. That is investment associated with the jobs, across building and operating the site and its supply chain. It is not a wage, and the 400 figure covers jobs supported during construction and operation together, not 400 permanent posts starting today.

The timeline so far

What it means for your money

Your energy bill: consent for one solar farm does not change any household bill today, and neither the government notice nor the developer promises a specific saving. More low cost generation and storage can help the wider system over time, but there is no per household figure to bank on from this decision, and the site still has to be designed and built.

If you are looking for work in Nottinghamshire: there are no 400 vacancies to apply for today. The developer’s figure is an estimate of jobs supported across construction and operation, including supply chain spending. The realistic near term signal is for construction, engineering and local supplier work as the project moves from detailed design towards delivery. RES says local communities and stakeholders will be kept updated as it progresses.

If you live near the site: the package to watch is the community benefits fund the developer puts at about £13 million over the project’s life. RES says it could include its Local Electricity Discounts Scheme. The word to note is “could”: the announcement does not confirm who would qualify, how much any discount would be, or when it would start. Those details, when published, are the ones that decide whether this package puts money back in nearby households’ pockets.

The honest catch: every money figure in this story beyond the consent itself is a developer estimate for a project that is not built yet. Investment, jobs and homes supplied can change with the final design and with how building goes. Treat them as the developer’s case for the scheme, recorded here with its source, not as outcomes already delivered.

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Steeple Renewables Project: your questions answered

Where is the Steeple Renewables Project? In Nottinghamshire, near Sturton-le-Steeple, in an area the developer notes has a long history of power generation at West Burton.

How big is it? About 450MW of solar generation and about 150MW of battery storage, with a total grid connection capacity of up to 600MW, according to the government notice and the developer.

When will it be built? No building start or completion date was given in the government notice or the developer announcement checked for this story. The developer names detailed design and delivery preparations as the next steps.

Will it cut my energy bill? No specific bill saving has been promised for any household. A community package of about £13 million over the project’s life is planned by the developer, which says it could include a local electricity discounts scheme, but eligibility and amounts have not been published.

Sources: GOV.UK, Steeple Renewables Project development consent decision announced, 9 October 2026, and RES, announcement of the consent decision. The per job investment sum was calculated by UK Markets Today from the developer’s published figures.