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Given its size, the project would be listed as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), a UK government scheme for projects larger than 100MW. Image: Low Carbon.
UK renewables developer Low Carbon has unveiled plans for a 500MW solar PV project in the county of Oxfordshire.
The West Oxfordshire Energy Park includes energy storage and electrical infrastructure, located on land near the villages of Langford and Little Faringdon. Low Carbon said it is engaging with local parishes during the early development stage, and has planned a public consultation for “the beginning of 2027”.
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Given its size, the project would be listed as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), a UK government designation that gives final approval on Development Consent Orders (DCOs) to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero rather than local officials. Projects over 100MW in size are designated as NSIPs; as of September 2026, 20 solar NSIPs have been approved by the government, with five DCOs granted this year alone.
Low Carbon’s proposed West Oxfordshire project is among the largest in the UK. Last year, then-Energy Secretary Ed Miliband gave the green light to the 500MW Tillbridge solar project in Lincolnshire, and in December the Planning Inspectorate began assessments for another 500MW solar-plus-storage site in East Anglia.
Analysis from Solar Media’s market researchers shows that the average size of UK solar projects that are granted approval in 2026 is increasing, with fewer, larger projects generally receiving the nod than in previous years.
Development director at Low Carbon, Ed Perrin, said that if approved, the West Oxfordshire project would “make an important contribution to the supply of clean, home-grown renewable power in the UK that will support government targets for solar deployment.”
The UK government has outlined plans to reach 45-47GW of solar PV capacity by 2030, a significant expansion on the roughly 18GW of capacity deployed as of 2025.
Low Carbon has already developed utility-scale solar NSIPs in the UK. In April 2025 it submitted plans for the 400MW Beacon Fen project in Lincolnshire, northern England, and in July 2025 it sold th e 500MW Gate Burton project to a subsidiary of French energy giant EDF.
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