Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department requires solar developers to restore land to its original condition following the removal of solar infrastructure.

The overarching National Policy Statements for Energy (EN-1) and Renewable Energy (EN-3) provide decommissioning guidance for projects deploying under the Nationally Significant Project Regime. EN-3 sets out the expectation that generally solar panel arrays and structures will be decommissioned, and underground cabling removed so prior use of the site can continue.

Infrastructure may remain in place if considered less harmful for the ecology of the site, or if there may be socio-economic benefits in retaining after operational life.

Developers are required to set out in their planning applications, plans for decommissioning the project and restoring the land to a suitable use.