Estonia has refused to grant licences to develop the Saare 7 offshore wind area after an unsuccessful auction process. The country’s Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (CPTRA) said neither of the companies submitting a competing superficies licence application fulfilled the requirements for participation in the auction.

A planning inspector has rejected plans for a controversial solar farm for a tiny, picturesque village in Kent - largely because it would spoil the stunning landscape. A 10-day public inquiry was held to decide the application from French company EDF Energy Renewables for Aldington in the borough of Ashford. The massive solar scheme was intended for farmland south of the M20, off Church Lane. It included the solar panels themselves; access tracks; a substation; cabins for staff, storage and parts; a perimeter fence and CCTV equipment.

Perth and Kinross councillors have refused an application for a solar farm on prime agricultural land near Coupar Angus.The plans - which went before the Planning and Placemaking Committee on Wednesday, July 9 - had been recommended for approval by council officers. It was refused by a single vote after objectors raised fears about going from living in open countryside to being in the middle of an industrial site...Milton Keynes-based Greentech Invest UK (9) submitted plans to develop a 22MW solar farm on 46 hectares of land 320m north-west of Peattie Farm, Kinnochtry near Coupar Angus. The solar panels themselves would occupy around 24 hectares of the site. PKC received 44 letters of objection to the application and just one letter of support.

Planning permission for a solar farm bigger than 130 football pitches has been refused due to fears Gloucestershire would become "Solarshire". Forest of Dean District Council has rejected Elgin Energy's application to install solar panels on 162 acres of land at Moat Farm in Kent's Green, near Newent. The council's development management committee heard the site would create a corridor of one million solar panels between Newent and Gloucester, due to other already approved solar farms.

The Department of Environment has rejected Cyprus’s largest planned solar photovoltaic park, citing severe environmental, social and technical impacts that outweigh the project’s climate benefits. The Department refused consent for the 180MW solar park with 40MW/80MWh energy storage units proposed by Cyrus Solar Thermal Ltd for the Kataliontas, Lythrodontas and Mathiatis communities in Nicosia.

Plans for a large-scale solar farm in the countryside have been refused over concerns about noise and the impact on the landscape. Hare Hill Solar's proposal for the site in Haswell Plough was voted down by Durham County Council's planning committee after a debate. The developer hoped to operate the 154-acre (62.7 hectare) site at Harehill Farm alongside a battery storage system, but faced opposition from residents.Durham County Council's planning department had originally backed the development to provide clean energy to 17,600 homes, but the committee voted to knock back the plans.Resident Janice Ferguson said her family would become "prisoners in our own home" if the solar farm went ahead...Ms Ferguson was joined by 24 other objectors, including local Labour MP Grahame Morris who opposed the proposal due to noise issues and the impact on the landscape.Morris said: "The thought of residents being surrounded by rows of solar panels is understandably distressing."...However, a majority of committee members at the Reform England-led council sided with the campaigners' concerns. Councillor Alan Bell, Independent Group, said: "It's immense, it's enormous. "The landscape harm is not going to be overcome.

Scottish Borders councillors today (Monday, June 26) unanimously agreed to object to a new wind farm which would lead to turbines “towering over” villagers. Oliver Forest Wind Farm is earmarked for land north of Menzion Farm at Tweedsmuir. The application for the project, known as a Section 36 application, has been submitted to the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit. The proposal submitted consists of seven turbines up to 200m to blade tip height...A report to the committee stated: “The merits of the application have been considered against relevant provisions of the development plan. The degree of demonstrable harm caused by significant and unacceptable adverse effects on the environment, conclude that while the socio-economic impacts and renewable energy contribution of this scheme are recognised to be positive, they are not considered sufficient to outweigh the significant adverse environmental impacts of the development.

Chino Valley Town Council members voted 6-1 to deny the Wilkinson Family Solar Project a conditional use permit that proposed construction of a 281-acre solar facility that would have been on the Wilkinson family ranch at 3245 Jerome Junction near Old Home Manor Road northeast of the APS substation. The council took the action June 24 at Town Hall during its regular meeting, after a presentation about the photovoltaic solar and battery energy storage system (BESS). A public hearing followed where speakers spoke in favor and in opposition of the proposal. The council made no comments, pro or con, before voting on the issue.

A plan for a solar farm that its developers said could power about 7,200 family homes has been refused by a council. Developer BSR Energy applied to use 34.8 hectares (86 acres) of arable farmland at St Mary Bourne, near Andover, Hampshire. The site is just within the North Wessex Downs National Landscape, formerly known as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council officers recommended it was given the go-ahead, but the authority's development control committee rejected the application. It argued it would damage the landscape and that there were no exceptional circumstances that meant it should be approved.

Plans for a 218-acre solar farm in Wiltshire could be scuppered after planning officers have recommended it for refusal. The proposal to build a 49.9 MW solar farm to the south of Potterne Park Farm, near Devizes, was initially submitted in December 2023.The plans, which have been revised multiple times by applicant Potterne Solar Project Limited, suggest building the solar farm with a permanent on-side grid connection hub, inverters, underground cabling, internal tracks, and environmental enhancements for a period of 50 years. It remains controversial and plans are strongly opposed by Potterne Solar Action Group. Now, planning officers at Wiltshire Council have recommended that the proposal be refused. It comes after councillor Dominic Muns and councillor Tamara Reay called in the application over concerns about the scale of the development, the visual impact on the surrounding area, and the environmental and highway impacts, as well as the general design, bulk, height and appearance of the scheme.