Projects

Securing Permissions for Middlefield Solar Farm

Tetra Tech provided planning and environmental consultancy for the Middlefield Solar Farm project, helping deliver a major ground-mounted PV installation with supporting infrastructure.

Middlefield Solar Farm sought planning permission for the installation of a ground mounted photovoltaic solar energy generation system (solar farm), co-located battery storage, and a 132kV substation with associated equipment and infrastructure. We provided planning and environmental consultancy services to Lightsource bp.

Challenge

In an effort to support the UK’s transition to more renewable and flexible energy generation, our team undertook the planning and environmental assessment support for Lightsource bp’s project on land to the south of Thorpe Thewles, near Stockton-on-Tees.

The main issues for the proposed development included the development’s visual impact on nearby residential receptors, the management of surface water drainage, and the development of a greenfield site.

Solution

We were engaged by Lightsource bp to prepare a planning application for the proposed development, made under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. Our team provided the planning statement and environmental assessments for landscape impact, heritage, transport, arboriculture, flood risk, and surface water drainage strategy.

Thanks to our robust assessments and appraisals, our team were able to prove that the benefits of the solar farm and co-located battery storage were significant enough to outweigh the limited, localised and temporary harms.

					Benefits				

									15MW designed solar generation capacity
28.6 hectare site area
Equivalent to the annual electricity needs of approximately 7,000 average UK homes
Has the potential to avoid approximately 7,000 tonnes of future carbon dioxide per year
								

At a glance

Client

Lightsource bp

Location

Stockton-on-Tees, UK

Services

Arboricultural impact assessment, flood risk assessment, heritage consultancy, landscape and visual impact assessment, planning consultancy, transport assessment

The project featured in this article was undertaken by RPS, A Tetra Tech Company and originally published on RPSgroup.com. In March 2026 RPS rebranded to Tetra Tech.