Helios solar and battery DCO granted in North Yorkshire

On 3 December 2025, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero made the Helios Renewable Energy Project Order 2025. It came into force on 29 December 2025. This grants development consent (a DCO) for a solar generating station over 50 megawatts and a battery storage facility in North Yorkshire, with a new connection at National Grid’s Drax 132kV Substation. The undertaker is Enso Green Holdings D Limited. In plain English, Helios can now build, operate, maintain and, later, remove the scheme within the approved site boundary.

If you’re new to this, a Development Consent Order is the national planning route for very large projects under the Planning Act 2008. Instead of a standard council decision, an Examining Authority tests the evidence and sends a recommendation to ministers. For Helios, the Secretary of State accepted that recommendation after considering the Environmental Impact Assessment and the relevant national policy statements.

What will be built? Rows of ground‑mounted solar panels with inverters and transformers, internal access tracks, fencing and CCTV. A battery energy storage system will sit alongside, with control rooms, fire water tanks and bunding. Cables will link a new onsite substation to the NGET Drax 132kV connection bay so electricity can flow onto the grid. Temporary compounds and improved site accesses will support construction.

The Order locks in a set of environmental plans you’ll meet across the DCO system. Before each phase starts, Helios must agree a Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) covering working hours, dust and vibration controls, pollution prevention, complaints routes and community liaison. Before operation, an Operational Environmental Management Plan (OEMP) is required. At end of life, a Decommissioning Environmental Management Plan (DEMP) will guide removal and land restoration. All of this sits on top of the Environmental Impact Assessment, which identifies likely effects and how they will be managed.

Biodiversity is not a ‘nice to have’ here; it is a legal requirement. The Landscape and Ecological Management Plan (LEMP) must deliver at least a 10% biodiversity net gain, calculated using Defra’s Statutory Metric (July 2025). There is a specific focus on ground‑nesting birds, including monitoring skylark plots and reporting on population and productivity. Planting, seasonal grazing and long‑term habitat management are set for the project’s lifetime.

Noise is often the first question from neighbours. The Order sets operational limits using British Standard BS 4142:2014+A1:2019. At night, the rating level must not exceed 40 dB LAr over any 15‑minute period; by day it must not exceed 50 dB LAr over any one hour, measured one metre outside the nearest home. If substantiated complaints arise, Helios must investigate, compare results with predictions and install extra mitigation if needed.

Construction traffic will be managed through a Construction Traffic Management Plan agreed with the highways authority and police. The Order allows temporary speed controls, diversions and parking restrictions where consented, with notice periods for residents and clear site signage. After works, streets and verges used or altered must be restored to the authority’s reasonable satisfaction, with a period for defects to be put right.

Public rights of way within the boundary can be temporarily closed or diverted during construction and maintenance, but pedestrian access to homes must be kept. The Order also enables permissive paths and requires a rights‑of‑way management plan to minimise closure lengths and to publicise changes clearly. If a right of way is suspended and someone suffers loss, compensation can apply under the Land Compensation Act.

The battery system comes with a dedicated safety regime. A Battery Safety Management Plan must be approved in consultation with North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Environment Agency. Fire suppression, water storage and containment, hazardous materials protocols, and transport arrangements for cells in and out of the site all sit within that plan.

Flood risk is addressed through a flood management strategy tied to the project’s flood risk assessment. Protection includes a defence bund designed for a climate‑changed design flood for the 2080s epoch and ‘level‑for‑level’ and ‘volume‑for‑volume’ floodplain compensation so water storage is not lost elsewhere. Delivery and maintenance of these features must be secured for operation and decommissioning.

Because solar panels can reflect light, a Glint and Glare Mitigation Strategy is required and must be shared with Burn Gliding Club as well as the council. The strategy is signed off before construction and implemented during operation, with adjustments if monitoring shows a problem.

The Order gives Helios powers to acquire land or new rights where needed, and to take temporary possession for compounds and works. There is a five‑year limit on using those powers from the date the Order was made, which means up to 3 December 2030. Subsoil‑only acquisition is possible to reduce impacts, and compensation and dispute routes follow long‑standing compulsory purchase laws.

Decommissioning is part of the bargain. No later than 40 years after the final phase of the solar array is commissioned, removal works must begin. A year before that, Helios must submit detailed plans for environmental management and traffic, and by year 15 of operation it must have put decommissioning security in place as agreed with landowners.

Large utilities and railways have their own protections. The Order includes detailed rules for National Gas Transmission, National Grid Electricity Transmission, Northern Powergrid, the Environment Agency, drainage authorities and Network Rail. In practice, this means approved method statements, agreed stand‑off distances, potential diversions, and the promoter paying reasonable costs for protection or relocation.

For nearby residents, the practical touchpoints will be site working hours, dust control, road management and how to raise a concern. The CEMP must publish complaints procedures and set out how liaison will work. If you use local paths, expect clear signage and temporary alternatives when closures are in place.

If you teach planning, geography, science or citizenship, Helios is a ready‑made case study. You can trace the DCO pathway from application to decision, test how an EIA informs conditions, calculate biodiversity net gain with real parameters, or analyse what those BS 4142 noise limits mean on a quiet evening. For learners, this is how policy turns into design choices on the ground.

Finally, a note on language. In DCOs the ‘undertaker’ is simply the consent holder; here it is Enso Green Holdings D Limited. ‘Order limits’ are the boundary inside which the powers apply. ‘Requirements’ are like planning conditions: they must be discharged in writing before each phase proceeds. Certified plans and documents referred to in the Order can be inspected at the undertaker’s registered office.