This week's blog takes a look at the Steeple Renewables Development Consent Order (DCO) decision and some of the key points emerging from the Secretary of State's decision letter.
On 9 October, one day before its (Saturday) decision deadline, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (SoS) granted the application for the Steeple Renewables DCO, a 450MW solar and battery storage project in Nottinghamshire, near the West Burton substation.
The Examining Authority of two inspectors recommended approval. There were two requests for information during the decision stage. The decision letter can be found here, and the made DCO can be found here.
The application was made on 14 May 2025, so about 17 months ago, which is almost exactly the average length of deciding a DCO application.