The Secretary of State has made the Helios Renewable Energy Project Order 2025, granting development consent for a large solar and battery scheme south of Selby, North Yorkshire. The consent covers up to 190MW of ground‑mounted solar PV with energy storage. The Order has now taken effect following the decision on 3 December 2025.
According to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Enso Green Holdings D Limited is authorised to build, operate and decommission the project under the Planning Act 2008. The consented scheme is a nationally significant infrastructure project by virtue of its capacity and will connect into the transmission network in the Selby area.
The Order sets out the authorised works: solar arrays; a battery energy storage system; an on‑site substation and internal cabling; works to form a 132kV connection into National Grid Electricity Transmission’s Drax substation; temporary construction compounds; new and improved accesses; and green infrastructure and biodiversity measures. The development followed an examination by the Planning Inspectorate, with a recommendation issued to the Secretary of State on 3 September 2025.
Land and rights can be acquired compulsorily where required for the works, with powers to take temporary possession and to acquire subsoil or rights only. The authority to serve notices to treat or execute a general vesting declaration expires five years from the day the Order was made. Before exercising compulsory acquisition or temporary possession powers, the undertaker must have a Secretary of State‑approved guarantee or other security in place for compensation liabilities.
Construction, operation and decommissioning are controlled by a suite of management plans. A Construction Environmental Management Plan and Construction Traffic Management Plan must be approved before each phase starts. An Operational Environmental Management Plan must be approved before first export for that phase. Decommissioning must begin no later than 40 years after final commissioning of the last phase, with a Decommissioning Environmental Management Plan and traffic plan submitted at least 12 months before works. Decommissioning security must be confirmed by year 15 of operation.
The Order requires a Soil Resource Management Plan for construction, operation and decommissioning phases. A Landscape and Ecological Management Plan must be agreed for each phase, demonstrating at least 10% biodiversity net gain using the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Statutory Metric (July 2025) or any successor metric agreed with the authority. Monitoring of habitat for ground‑nesting birds, including skylark plots, is mandated through the project’s life.
A Battery Safety Management Plan must be approved in consultation with North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Environment Agency, covering construction, operation, transport and decommissioning of cells. Operational noise is capped at 40 dB LAr between 23:00 and 07:00 and 50 dB LAr between 07:00 and 23:00, measured one metre free‑field at existing residential façades using BS 4142:2014+A1:2019, with post‑complaint assessment and remedial action if required.
Hydrology and glint/glare are addressed directly. Horizontal directional drilling or other trenchless techniques require a prior hydrogeological risk assessment agreed with the Environment Agency. Foundation methods that could affect principal or secondary aquifers need method statements and site‑specific risk assessments. A Flood Management Strategy must be approved for the battery and substation areas, including a flood defence bund and ‘level‑for‑level’ and ‘volume‑for‑volume’ floodplain compensation designed to the 2080s climate allowance. A Glint and Glare Mitigation Strategy must be agreed in consultation with Burn Gliding Club.
Highway powers allow street works within the Order limits, permanent or temporary alterations to specified streets, temporary closure or diversion of public rights of way, and time‑limited traffic regulation measures by written instrument. Prior consultation with the police and traffic authorities is required, and pedestrian access to premises must be maintained. Restoration duties and defect liability periods for altered streets are specified, alongside a compensation route for those affected by rights‑of‑way suspensions.
Extensive protective provisions apply. National Gas Transmission, National Grid Electricity Transmission and Northern Powergrid benefit from plan‑approval procedures, stand‑off distances, rights to require diversions and protective works, and cost recovery plus indemnities. Works near high‑pressure gas apparatus must follow T/SP/SSW/22 and HSE guidance; works near overhead lines must comply with EN43‑8 and HSE Guidance Note GS6. The Environment Agency and drainage authorities have approval and protection regimes for works near main rivers and ordinary watercourses. Network Rail requires an Asset Protection Agreement for any specified works within 15 metres of railway property, with cost recovery for reasonable protective measures.
Project governance is structured around phased delivery. A phasing scheme must be approved and notifications of final commissioning issued for each phase. Detailed design for each phase must be signed off by the local planning authority against the environmental statement and the outline design principles. The Order sets an eight‑week determination period for most requirement discharges, with deemed approval if no decision is issued on time, subject to safeguards where materially new environmental effects or changes to the habitats regulations assessment would arise.
For practitioners, three near‑term actions are clear. The undertaker will need to front‑load CEMP and CTMP approvals and confirm the Battery Safety Management Plan and Flood Management Strategy. Landowners within the Order limits should note the five‑year period for compulsory acquisition and temporary possession and the compensation mechanisms for extinguished or suspended private rights. The local planning authority and statutory consultees should expect staged submissions on soil, biodiversity monitoring and public rights of way management throughout construction and operation. For grid‑facing design teams, early engagement on the Drax 132kV interface is essential to align protection, easement and access requirements.