As part of the ongoing Review of the South Worcestershire Development Plan (SWDP), the South Worcestershire Councils conducted a Call for Sites inviting landowners and / or their agents / developers to submit land for potential large scale renewable and low carbon energy projects.

The South Worcestershire Councils are committed to meeting the challenge of climate change and wish to identify potential opportunities to increase the supply of renewable and low carbon energy in south Worcestershire.

Renewable energy covers those energy flows that occur naturally and repeatedly in the environment – from the wind, the fall of water, from the sun and deep geothermal heat. Examples of renewable energy include solar power, hydro power and wind turbines. Low carbon technologies are those that can help reduce carbon emissions (compared to the conventional use of fossil fuels). Such technologies include biomass and combined heat and power (CHP).

Some renewable and low carbon technologies, such as roof mounted solar panels and air source heat pumps, are attached to the fabric of a building and usually do not require planning permission. This call for sites is only seeking suggestions for land for large scale stand alone renewable and low carbon energy projects which would divert all or a substantial proportion of the power or heat in to the national grid or a large scale heat network.

The deadline for submissions was 5pm on Friday 3 April 2020, after which Officers assessed submissions to determine the suitability of the land as a potential allocation for renewable or low carbon energy in the SWDP Review.

Please note if you had submitted a site / land in the past through the SHLAA / SHELAA process you needed to submit the information again as this Call for Sites exercise was specific to renewable and low carbon energy projects and not housing or employment sites.

document Renewable and Low Carbon Energy Call for Sites Submission Form (87 KB)