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Bytesized | Lime Down Solar Park preconsent progress

Wide rural landscape of rolling green fields, distant trees on a hill, and a bright blue sky with fluffy clouds.

We’re proud to be involved in Lime Down Solar Park – a proposed utility-scale solar PV and battery energy storage scheme being developed by Island Green Power in Wiltshire, with associated infrastructure to connect into the national electricity transmission system at Melksham substation. If consented, the project is anticipated to deliver up to 500MW of renewable electricity. JSM’s focus to date has been on delivering the civils preconsent activities for the cable route, providing key inputs to constructability, programme certainty, and risk reduction. This phase is ongoing, with our team continuing to support route verification, ground investigation, stakeholder interfaces, and trenchless solution design development to support design assurance and consent/approval activities.

Preconsent deliverables included:

  • Topographic surveys to verify the proposed route and crossing locations
  • Targeted trial holes at the Network Rail bridge interface to confirm utilities/obstructions and constructability constraints
  • CD622-compliant intrusive works across the M4 to validate trenchless alignment and inform method selection
  • Ground investigation boreholes to characterise strata and confirm ground conditions for trenchless design
  • Development of preconsent and delivery duration programmes to support sequencing and key interfaces
  • Stakeholder engagement with National Highways to plan and assure intrusive works under live-network constraints
  • Network Rail BAPA submissions to progress approvals for works impacting rail assets
  • Trenchless solution development (alignment, constructability inputs and design outputs) to support detailed design
  • Swept-path analysis to validate construction vehicle access, turning and delivery movements

Thanks to our project partners and stakeholders for supporting access, technical assurance and approvals – particularly the Network Rail and National Highways teams. We’ll continue building the evidence base and progressing design development to support a safe, efficient transition into delivery should the project move forward.