Land with grid capacity for generation
Open land of 0.5 ha or more within 1 km of a primary substation, ordered by the spare generation capacity its network operator publishes. Much of the grid has none.
23,780 sites fit this search today
Imagery: Mapbox and Maxar. Boundaries: HM Land Registry INSPIRE, Crown copyright.
A land search, from the first words to a shortlist
38 seconds. Type what you are looking for, see the sites that fit, open one and save it to a shortlist.
What the search looks for
Each line is a filter on the map, so you can widen or tighten any of them.
Open the search- 0.5 ha or more of open land within 1 km of a primary substation
- Three addresses or fewer
In this order: the most spare generation capacity first (much of the grid has none).
On every site
- Room and access
- The widest circle that fits inside the plot, its road frontage, and the addresses on it.
- What changes the route to consent
- Conservation areas, national landscapes, national parks, listed buildings and SSSIs, mapped against the plot.
- Who to ask
- The kind of owner, from HM Land Registry, and the planning history of the plot.
Why these rules
Solar and wind schemes export, so they need spare generation capacity (the headroom each network operator publishes for its primary substations; a connection application fixes the final figure). Larger projects joining the national queue must hold land rights, an option, a lease or the freehold, to keep their place (Ofgem's connections reform decision, April 2025).
A new 11 kV cable costs about £110 to £380 a metre and a 33 kV one £1,700 to £3,200 (Electricity North West's connection charges, June 2026), so the distance matters. Woodland is left out. Land inside a town, parks, allotments, playing fields and strips under 40 m across are left out: a generation compound goes on open land.
Sites from the search
Some of the sites the search returned on 10 November 2026. Each opens on the map with its record.
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Buckhurst Hill1.22 ha
Epping Forest
Primary substation Epping New Rd 11kVDistance to that substation 673 m
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Barlaston1.25 ha
Stafford
Primary substation Longton 132/33/11KvDistance to that substation 822 m
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Hacheston5.79 ha
East Suffolk
Primary substation Wickham Market Grid 33kVDistance to that substation 630 m
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West Molesey3.07 ha
Elmbridge
Primary substation Esher 11kVDistance to that substation 807 m
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Castle Gresley1.54 ha
South Derbyshire
Primary substation Gresley 33Kv S StnDistance to that substation 712 m
Imagery: Mapbox and Maxar. Boundaries: HM Land Registry INSPIRE, Crown copyright.
Related searches
- Land for solar farms8 ha or more, within 3 km of a primary substation, slope under 5°, under a fifth trees, outside protected landscapes, not water, an airfield or an existing solar or wind farm; the most megawatts the land and the grid can both take first, best farmland ranked lower, then nearest a substation first
- Land for small solar farms1.6 to 11 ha of open land outside towns, within 2 km of a primary substation, slope under 5°, best farmland ranked lower, on a road, out of flood zone 3 and protected landscapes, not water, green space, an airfield or an existing solar or wind farm; the most megawatts the land and the grid can both take first, then nearest a substation first
- Land with grid capacity for storage0.5 ha or more of open land within 1 km of a primary substation, three addresses or fewer, the most spare capacity both ways first (much of the grid has none)
- Land with grid capacity for demand0.5 ha or more of open land within 1 km of a primary substation, three addresses or fewer, the most spare demand capacity first (much of the grid has none)