Pathfinder Clean Energy (PACE), a UK-headquartered international developer of utility-scale solar and battery storage projects, has secured full planning permission for its 18MW Glebe Solar Farm in Norfolk, following a successful appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.
The project had originally been recommended for approval by the local authority’s planning officers, but was refused by committee in August 2024. The Inspectorate’s decision to overturn the refusal underscores the robustness of PACE’s application and its consistency with both national energy goals and local planning policy.
“We are delighted with the Planning Inspectorate’s decision to approve Glebe Solar,” said Rob Denman, Managing Director of PACE. “This outcome reflects our careful site selection and commitment to responsible development. We’ve worked hard to ensure this project brings tangible local benefits – from biodiversity improvements to climate action – with minimal disruption. We’re proud to support local and national decarbonisation goals in this way.”
The use of Best and Most Versatile (BMV) agricultural land – a classification used to denote higher-grade soils – was the only issue cited by the committee in its refusal, however, PACE believes that energy security and food security are complementary goals – not competing ones. According to the government’s Food Security Report 2024, DEFRA’s agricultural land use statistics 2024 and the UK’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, the impact of ground-mounted solar on national food supply is negligible. This view was supported by the Planning Inspector, who acknowledged the UK’s strong food supply position:
“In terms of food security, the UK produces around 75% of what we consume, and this has been broadly stable for the past 20 years. The Government does not seek to increase food production and the remaining 25% of food is addressed through imported foods required to meet food choices for those out of season in the UK. This has allowed Defra to conclude that the UK has a large and highly resilient food supply chain. Moreover, the 2024 WMS identifies that the total area used for solar is very small and even the most ambitious scenarios would still occupy less than 1% of the UK’s agricultural land. This would therefore have a minimal total effect on food security concerns.”
Glebe Solar benefits from a near-term grid connection, and once built will generate approximately 25GWh of clean electricity each year, enough to meet the annual demand of around 8,550 homes, and will offset an estimated 5,775 tonnes of CO2 annually.