Why Our Work is Not Done

The Secretary of State may have granted consent for Sunnica’s huge ca. 2,500-acre solar and battery plant but this deeply flawed project – described by Suffolk County Council, a vastly experienced council when it comes to dealing with NSIPs, as the ‘worst’ infrastructure project it has ever dealt with - still faces major safety, technical, and environmental hurdles before any construction can begin. To this day Sunnica remains the only Solar and BESS NSIP recommended for outright refusal by the governments own expert Planning Inspectorate

We will continue to hold Sunnica Ltd to account, alongside our four local councils, to ensure that this poor-quality industrial development does not destroy our homes, farmland, and communities.

Why Our Work Is Not Done

Although partial approval has been granted, the project remains far from viable.

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Here are just some of the reasons we continue to challenge the Sunnica Energy Farm:

• Rejected by experts: The Planning Inspectorate recommended that consent should be refused, since the many harms outweigh any potential benefits. The Sunnica Energy Farm is the only Solar and Battery NSIP to date that has been outright recommended for refusal.

• “Rejected” by government: Previous Secretary of State Claire Coutinho stated in the House of Commons that she had made a decision to reject the Sunnica Energy Farm. Her decision was still being formalised when the snap General Election paused the process. Her unfinalised rejection was not followed through by the incoming Secretary of State, Ed Miliband, who instead gave consent just days after starting office.

• “Incomplete” consent: The Development Consent Order (DCO) as granted did not include the additional consent - Hazardous Substances Consent – that Sunnica Ltd needs to obtain before the huge lithium-ion battery stores (LiBESS) are allowed to be built.  The huge Sunnica LiBESS will exceed the Hazardous Substances Consent thresholds, and therefore require this further consent to be granted by the Hazardous Substances Authority (East Cambridgeshire DC and West Suffolk DC) prior to beginning development. Sunnica Ltd has not yet applied for this.

• Uncertainty regarding grid connection: There have been several changes to Sunnica’s grid connection, including delays to the connection date. The latest date is showing as 31 Oct 2030, but this could even be subject to further change. This is already well beyond the DCO expiry and beyond the governments “Clean Power by 2030” target.

• Funding concerns and poor corporate governance: Sunnica Ltd has a poor track record with Companies House, with late filings and a recent compulsory strike off action initiated against them. The Examiners were deeply concerned at Sunnica Ltd’s Funding Statement, which was not fully accurate, and urged further due diligence on this from the Secretary of State before taking a decision. But this was not done. This matter is currently under investigation.

• Disregard and disrespect for Isleham’s sacred bomber crash site: Sunnica Ltd still insist on desecrating the wreckage field of the B50 superfortress bomber tragedy, in which 12 incredibly brave airmen sacrificed their lives to save the village of Isleham. This sacred field should be removed from the scheme.

• Overwhelming public opposition: Thousands of local residents, district, county, town and parish councils, MPs, mayor and many other stakeholders submitted valid objections throughout the process. They presented compelling evidence of the harms this scheme will cause, most of which the government-appointed Examiners agreed with.

• Poor design and inefficiency: Spread across three huge sites and connected by ca. 15 miles of cabling, Sunnica Energy Farm maximises disruption while reducing efficiency.

• Compulsory Acquisition and Temporary Possession (CA/TP): Due to the sprawling nature of the Sunnica scheme it requires the cooperation of some 34 landowners just for cable route and access. Their land is set to be acquired through CA/ TP powers, even though the government-appointed Examiners did not agree that powers of CA/ TP were justified. As of November 2025, the vast majority of affected landowners have not signed agreements, despite ongoing pressure from Sunnica Ltd.

• Fire and explosion risk of Lithium-ion Battery Storage Systems (LiBESS): Lithium-ion batteries are known to fail. When many thousands of these are packed together to create LiBESS, just one single battery cell failure can lead to other cell failures and a process called Thermal Runaway, a well-known phenomenon. This results in fires, which are almost impossible to extinguish, along with explosion potential and release of highly toxic emissions over wide areas. Current UK firefighting strategy is to let them burn out, whilst dampening the surrounding area with millions litres water.

• Sunnica’s unsafe lithium-ion battery storage locations: Sunnica has been permitted to build their huge LiBESS in precarious locations including above a high-pressure gas mains, despite known fire and explosion risks. This has been described by experts as “insane.”  The LiBESS are next to homes and businesses, and also above chalk aquifers and close to sensitive wildlife habitats.

• Sunnica’s battery fire safety plans unfit for purpose: Sunnica Ltd’s own Outline Battery Fire Safety Management Plan (BFSMP) was declared “unfit for purpose” by one of the world’s leading lithium-ion battery safety experts Professor Paul Christensen. The final BFSMP is required to be “substantially in accordance with” this inadequate outline plan, so offers little confidence for our communities.

• Moss Landing –example of disastrous consequences when LiBESS fail: Scientific reports published post last year’s Moss Landing LiBESS failure show the widespread and long-lasting ecological, health and community impacts. The spread of highly toxic gases and heavy metals, carried in the plume from the fire, further confirms the potential for soil and water pollution for miles – and for generations.

• Threat to our aquifers: All Sunnica LiBESS sites are above key aquifers supplying water to Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. When the LiBESS fail, the water used to try to control the fire becomes contaminated. The almost inevitable leakage of this firewater will pollute our groundwater for generations.

• Not enough firefighting water: Sunnica Ltd plan to have enough bunding lagoon capacity for 410,000 litres per LiBESS site. However, using guidance of West Yorkshire Fire Service and lessons learned at the Carnegie Road LiBESS fire in Liverpool, scaling up the water requirements for Sunnica could require some 27 million or more litres of water.

• Prime farmland under threat: According to Natural England's own maps, over half the Sunnica scheme is on Best and Most Versatile agricultural land with access to irrigation; land that is vital for UK food security.

• Wildlife loss: Several breeding pairs of rare and protected Stone Curlew would be displaced — with fewer than 700 left in the UK.

• Net zero target claims: Independent research by Cranfield University found the Sunnica Energy Farm will never achieve net zero over its 40-year life,  largely due to the vast amount of equipment, millions of solar panels and battery cells, much of which will be shipped from China.

• Industrial intrusion: ca 2500 acres, 2.5m high security fencing, 3.5m solar stations, 5m CCTV poles, 6m weather masts will transform open farmland into a massive industrial area.