RES has expressed “strong disappointment” after its proposed Cairnmore Hill wind farm was rejected for the second time. The project in Caithness, which had been reduced from eight turbines to five, was turned down by the Highland Council under delegated powers. The refusal came despite the fact the site lies within an area identified by the Highland Council as having “potential for wind farm development”. The wind farm would have been located approximately 4.5km west of Thurso.

The leader of South Holland District Council said it would not be bullied into becoming a dumping ground for solar farms as one was rejected. The plans for the 49.4MW, 271 acre site at Caudwell Farm in Holbeach St Matthews were refused by a meeting of the authority’s Planning Committee last night (Tuesday March 4). Leader Coun Nick Worth, speaking at the meeting as ward member for the area, said: “There are very few houses in the vicinity so we can’t be accused of ‘nimbyism’. “It’s about something more important – food production. “We should be growing more, not less. “We will not be bullied by the secretary of state and become a dumping ground for solar panels. “Farming and food is far more important than energy.”

Controversial plans for a solar farm in the County Durham countryside have been refused. The proposal by Lightsource bp for the large-scale site near Burnhope was voted down by Durham County Council’s planning committee after impassioned pleas from residents. Councillors supporting local concerns said the size and scale of the proposed solar farm and the loss of landscape influenced their decision. However, the refusal was not unanimous, with some committee members claiming the development was essential to achieving County Durham’s net zero ambitions...Lightsource bp resubmitted its application for the 227-acre site last year and said it had improved landscaping to minimise visual impacts. Up to 14 fields near the County Durham village were set to be overlaid with panels, including areas near the Chapman’s Well nature reserve. However, campaigners argued the 110,640 panels would dwarf Burnhope. A total of 603 objections and 68 letters of support were submitted since the proposal was first lodged. The meeting was shown videos of locals gathering on the land to protest against the development, with placards saying: “Don’t blight Burnhope”. Objectors argued that the proposal would result in the industrialisation of the countryside, altering the rural character of the village and surrounding areas. There were also concerns about potential damage to Chapman’s Well Nature Reserve, which is a key ecological site.

Scottish Borders Council’s Planning and Building Standards Committee has turned down Muirhall Energy’s 350-MW Teviot Wind Farm project, despite being recommended by officers not to oppose the plan. The negative decision was announced on Monday following a three-to-five vote. The rejection is based on concerns that the up to 240-metre-high turbine generators will have unacceptable adverse visual impact and compromise the historical setting. The developer’s application will be now considered by a government reporter via a public inquiry. The Teviot Wind Farm is set to be located south of the town of Hawick in the Scottish Borders. Muirhall Energy’s original intentions were to install 75 turbines totalling 522 MW but the plan was downsized several times. The latest revision, made last summer, aimed to lower the wind farm’s visibility by reducing the turbine number to 53, while plans for the construction of an on-site solar plant were scrapped. Following engagement with the Scottish Borders Council in early 2025, another turbine was removed from the plan.

North Lanarkshire Council’s planning committee has unanimously refused planning permission for a wind farm near the village of Harthill. Infinergy had proposed the construction of four turbines, up to 200 metres in blade tip height, as well as access tracks, crane hardstandings and other infrastructure, including a substation and a maintenance building, on land near the Harthill North motorway services.

Controversial plans to develop a wind farm in north west Kilkenny have been dealt a major blow by Kilkenny County Council. In their reasoning for refusing permission, the local authority stated that “having regard to the size and scale of the proposed development, the Planning Authority considers that the proposed seven (7) number of turbines with 185 metre tip height will, due to the cumulative effects of visual intrusion, combined with noise, flicker and disturbance of access, on a significant number of nearby dwellings in and around the settlements of Tullaroan, Kilmanagh, and Ballycallan, give rise to excessive levels of adverse effects on residential amenity in the area.”...The local authority also noted ‘a significant lack of supporting information for certain ecological receptors (such as birds) in both the Stage 1 Screening and Stage 2 Natura impact Statement, and certain elements of the mitigation measures’. The decision to the refuse planning permission was met with ‘relief’ by local group KBT (Kilmanagh, Ballycallan, Tullaroan) Responsible Energy. “This ruling lifts a significant burden of stress and anxiety that has weighed heavily on residents since the proposal was first announced,” they stated.

A $6 billion offshore wind farm project in Victoria is dead after the federal government knocked back an exploration licence, following a court battle with the proponent and subsequent changes to legislation. Flotation Energy had proposed to build the 150-turbine Seadragon wind farm in waters off south-east Victoria's Ninety Mile Beach in Bass Strait. The project was part of the Gippsland offshore wind zone, Australia's first, and was expected to be able to produce 1.5 gigawatts of power. Seadragon was one of 37 applicants for a feasibility licence in the declared offshore area in Gippsland, and in 2023 received major project status from the Commonwealth.

A solar power project in Logan County, which received considerable backlash from the community, has been canceled. On Friday, the Grange Solar Project pulled its application from the Indian Lake area, following a recommendation from the Ohio Power Siting Board to deny it. Indian Lake residents told 2 NEWS they are thankful that the Grange Solar project is no longer in the county, even if that means losing potential job opportunities and millions of dollars of investment in the county. “We want the beauty of the lake, we don’t want any disturbance to the lake,” said John Ford, Indian Lake resident. Sixteen of the 17 townships in Logan County voted against establishing solar projects in the county, asking for the commissioners’ support.

"Plans for a ""colossal"" solar farm have been rejected by a council, amid more than 300 objections. The proposed 141-acre site on Rownall Road in Wetley Rocks, Staffordshire, aimed to generate enough power for more than 11,000 homes. But opponents of the scheme argued the development was ""ridiculous"" and ""ill-thought out"" and would transform the rural countryside into an industrial area. Councillors at Staffordshire Moorlands District Council were united against the proposal and refused the plans at a recent meeting. Local resident Peter Slinn said the site, equivalent to the size of 140 football pitches, would ""have a massive detrimental effect"" on his family and would dominate their ""lovely views of the countryside"". ""It will not just affect those residing in Wetley Rocks, Werrington and Bagnall, but due to the colossal size of this development positioned on a hill side rising up to the high trig point it will be visible for miles,"" he added. "There is no amount of landscape screening that will hide this development."

“We called for — and still support — a moratorium on these [Battery Energy Storage System] facilities almost two years ago,” said Vito Fossella, borough president of Staten Island, where more than a dozen of the facilities are planned. “They are being placed literally right next door to people’s homes, and even next to a gas station,” Fosella said. “The city is playing with fire by allowing this type of reckless policy to continue.” Duanesburg — where New York State Energy Research and Development president and CEO Doreen Harris lives — recently voted to ban BESS buildings because they “will pose a threat to the public health safety and welfare of residents of the Town and their property,” according to a resolution by the town board.