Wind, solar, and battery storage opportunity areas background paper

2.1. National planning policy

2.1.1.  National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) (Paragraph 161) sets out the planning system should support the transition to net zero by 2050 including through supporting renewable and low carbon energy and associated infrastructure.

2.1.2.  Under paragraph 165 of the NPPF Plans should help to increase the use and supply of renewable and low carbon energy by providing a positive strategy for energy from these sources, whilst ensuring that adverse impacts are addressed appropriately. They should consider identifying suitable areas for renewable and low carbon energy sources, and supporting infrastructure, where this would help secure their development.

2.1.3.  The Dorset Council area includes areas of two national landscapes: the Dorset National Landscape and the Cranborne Chase National Landscape. They are designated as such for their outstanding natural beauty. Public bodies have a duty placed on them to conserve and enhance these protected landscapes (Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000). 

2.1.4.  NPPF paragraph 187 identifies that great weight should be given to conserving and enhancing landscape and scenic beauty in National Landscapes, and that these designations have the highest status of protection in relation to these issues. Furthermore, the scale and extent of development within National Landscapes should be limited, while development within their setting should be sensitively located and designed to avoid or minimise adverse impacts on the designated areas.

2.2. Planning practice guidance

2.2.1.  The Planning Practice Guidance (Paragraph: 003 Reference ID: 5-003-20140306)  (PPG) sets out how local planning authorities can develop a positive strategy to promoting the delivery of renewable and low carbon energy. This includes through taking into account the views of local communities, and considering local potential for renewable and low carbon energy generation.

2.2.2.  Whilst there is no set methodology, the PPG (Paragraph: 005 Reference ID: 5-005-20150618) provides guidance on how suitable areas for renewable energy can be identified. It sets out that local planning authorities will need to ensure that the requirements of the technology are taken into account, as well as the potential impacts on the local environment, including from cumulative impacts. A district level Landscape Character Assessment may provide a basis for assessing the likely landscape and visual impacts of a proposal.

2.2.3.  The PPG also identifies some benefits to identifying suitable areas, which include giving greater certainty as to where such development will be permitted, and thus reducing the need to consider more speculative applications involving the same type of development when they judge the impact to be unacceptable.

2.2.4.  In the case of wind turbines, a planning application should not be approved unless the proposed development site is an area identified as suitable for wind energy development, and maps showing the wind resource as favourable to wind turbines or similar will not be sufficient (Paragraph 032 Reference ID: 5-032-150618).

3.1.1.  In order to meet NPPF paragraph 165(b) and Planning Practice Guidance, we commissioned consultants to undertake two assessments to inform the identification of potentially suitable areas for the development of onshore wind turbines, ground mounted solar and battery energy storage systems:

• A Dorset Renewable Energy Assessment (resource assessment) – to identify the areas in Dorset that are technically suitable for development of this kind
• A Landscape Sensitivity Assessment – to identify areas of Dorset that may be more suitable in landscape terms for this type of development

3.1.2.  The assessments focus on onshore wind turbines, ground mounted solar, and battery energy storage systems as these are the types of renewable energy development that are most likely to come forward in the Dorset Council area. Other types of renewable energy proposals are still possible and would be considered on their merits.

3.1.3.  The assessments categorise the three development types into various scales that are considered to reflect those that are most likely to be put forward by developers and which may meet the varying needs of different types of applicants.

3.1.4.  Both the Dorset Renewable Energy Assessment and the Landscape Sensitivity Assessment are available at: https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/planning-buildings-land/planning-policy/dorset-council-local-plan

3.2. Renewable energy resource assessment

3.2.1.  The resource assessment looks at the technical potential for development of onshore wind turbines, ground mounted solar and battery energy storage systems, through the application of various constraints and assumptions, including those relating to:

• land within designated ecological sites
• designated heritage assets
• existing and future development
• watercourses and woodland
• minimum development sizes, to reflect the practicalities of large scale developments
• for wind, technical considerations such as wind speed, turbine sizing and spacing; and consideration of noise impacts
• for solar, exclusion of higher quality agricultural land
• for battery storage, exclusion of land more than 4km from a transmission substation

3.2.2.  For wind energy, the assessment indicates the technical suitability of land for the following development scales:

• Very large (150-220m blade-tip height);
• Large (100-150 blade-tip height);
• Medium (60-100 blade-tip height); and
• Small (25-60 blade-tip height).

3.2.3.  Due to the ‘modular’ nature of ground mounted solar panels and the fact that constraints are not affected by project scale in the way they are for wind energy, the assessment has not been broken down into discrete project sizes. Rather, any land technically suitable for development has been identified.

3.2.4.  For battery storage, the assessment considers the potential for stand-alone battery storage proposals (over 100MW). Typically, the potential for battery storage development, can be suitably micro-sited alongside solar developments, as well as other renewable developments such as wind. The individual units are similar in size and scale to shipping containers. As such, the technical potential for battery storage associated with wind or solar is covered by the technical potential assessment for these types of developments.

3.2.5.  By applying the constraints and assumptions, the assessment identifies areas within Dorset that, at a strategic level, are considered to have technical suitability for development. This is provided in mapped format, as well as giving an indication of the potential energy yield should these areas of technical suitability be developed for these types of renewable energy.

3.2.6.  The assessment also makes clear that there are further considerations that would impact the deployment of renewable energy development. For example:

• Wind data – This would likely require site specific monitoring for an appropriate period in order to confirm accurate data for a site.
• National Landscapes – The management plans for the Dorset National Landscape and the Cranborne Chase National Landscape do not restrict renewable developments within the designations. As such, no land was excluded from assessment on this basis and landscape sensitivity was assessed across the Dorset Council area. Site specific assessment of landscape and visual impact would be required to assess the potential suitability of sites for wind development for any proposal and due regard will need to be given to a site’s location within or in proximity to the National Landscapes.
• Site specific features and characteristics – Developments outside protected areas may potentially have an impact on amenity and sensitive ‘receptors’ such as protected species. For example site specific consideration would need to be given to impacts on the core sustenance zones around bat roosts, migration routes, and impact risk zones for sites of special scientific interest.
• Aviation – Operational airports and airfields were considered to be constraints to wind development and were excluded from the areas of opportunity. However, airport safeguarding and consultation zones were not used to restrict potentially suitable areas, as these impacts require site by site consideration and mitigation may be available to address any issues.

3.2.7.  Grid capacity was also considered in the resource assessment, which sets out that generation capacity issues exist and are likely to continue in the immediate future. However, steps taken to address capacity issues, such as recent restructuring of the energy operations at national level, changes to the connections process, and further future investment in grid infrastructure, will need to be factored in to future planning for renewable energy development. Grid capacity has therefore not been included as a constraint to resource for wind energy, ground mounted solar, and battery energy storage, as the identification of opportunity areas can help to influence future investment.

3.3. Landscape sensitivity assessment (LSA)

3.3.1.  In line with Paragraph 005 (Reference ID: 5-005-20150618) of the PPG the landscape sensitivity work provides an assessment of Dorset’s Landscape Character Types’ (LCT) sensitivity to wind turbines, ground mounted solar, and battery energy storage systems, including those parts of the Council area that lie within the two National Landscapes. This is because the two management plans for the Dorset National Landscape and the Cranborne Chase National Landscape do not restrict renewable developments within the designations. Additionally, planning applications have been forthcoming for solar and battery storage within and in proximity to the national landscapes and it considered that evidence on landscape sensitivity will assist in the consideration of such applications in the future.

3.3.2.  The landscape character types are defined in the following assessments:

• Dorset Landscape Character Assessment (2025)
• Dorset National Landscape Character Assessment (2008, reviewed 2018)
• Cranborne Chase National Landscape Character Assessment (2003, reviewed 2024)

3.3.3.  Each LCT was assessed against the following criteria, which are informed by Natural England guidelines:

• Landform and scale (including sense of openness / enclosure)
• Landcover (including field and settlement patterns)
• Historic landscape character and time depth
• Visual character (including skylines)
• Perceptual and scenic qualities

3.3.4.  For each criterion, each LCT was given a rating of Low, Low-Moderate, Moderate, Moderate-High, or High. The sensitivity assessment then concludes with an overall landscape sensitivity score for the LCT (using the same rating bands) at the following scales of the development types:

3.3.5.  For wind energy:

• Very large (150-220m blade-tip height);
• Large (100-150 blade-tip height);
• Medium (60-100 blade-tip height); and
• Small (25-60 blade-tip height).

3.3.6.  For ground mounted solar:

• Very small solar PV installation (up to 1 ha)
• Small solar PV installation (1 to 5 ha)
• Medium solar PV installation (5 to 20 ha)
• Large solar PV installation (20 to 50 ha)
• Very large solar PV installation (50 to 120 ha)

3.3.7.  For battery energy storage:

• 100MW to 500MW BESS (up to 5 ha with substations up to 5 metres in height)
• Stand alone strategic scale BESS: 500MW to 1GW (up to 10 ha with substations up to 15 metres in height)

3.3.8.  Where different landscape character areas, which are the component parts of an LCT, have differing sensitivity scores, this is captured in the assessment. The overall scores were then mapped to enable spatial analysis.

4.1.1.  In the Dorset Council Local Plan options consultation 2025 we have used early outputs of the two assessments to identify, for consultation, areas of opportunity areas for onshore wind turbines, ground mounted solar and battery energy storage systems, at the varying scales to match those assessed in landscape sensitivity assessment.

4.1.2.  Areas of technical suitability (identified through the resource assessment) were overlaid with the draft landscape sensitivity scoring to result in areas that are potential suitable these types of development.

4.1.3.  In terms of landscape sensitivity, for each development scale, we identified that in general, areas of moderate-high sensitivity could be considered potentially suitable for development. This was based on discussion with Dorset Council landscape officers, and the fact that existing development that had already been considered through the planning process, fall within areas of moderate-high sensitivity. In general, the landscape sensitivity assessment identifies that areas of moderate-high sensitivity may be able to accommodate development due to the specific characteristics of the relevant LCT.

4.1.4.  The whole of the Dorset Council area is deemed to have high sensitivity to very large wind turbines (150-220m blade-tip height), large solar PV installations (20 to 50 ha), and very large solar PV installations (50 to 120 ha). As such no areas area considered to be potentially suitable for these scales of development, within Dorset.

4.1.5.  The areas of opportunity are shown in Appendix D of the consultation material, and on the Local Plan consultation layers on Dorset Explorer. Following the consultation, the finalised assessments, and responses received will be considered to determine areas of opportunity to be included in the final version of the Local Plan. Such areas would be supported by a criteria based policy. It should be noted that the identification of such areas does not and would not indicate that the whole area would be suitable for the type of development specified; and that individual planning applications within the areas of opportunity would still be required to submit detailed site specific assessments and would be subject to the normal determination process including consideration of the cumulative impacts of similar developments.