OnPath Energy breaks ground at 49.9 MW Common Farm Solar Park in South Yorkshire, targeting mid-2027 completion

OnPath Energy has started construction at the Common Farm Solar Park near Dinnington, South Yorkshire - a 49.9 MW solar project co-located with a 50 MW battery storage facility, targeting completion in mid-2027^[1]. Spanish engineering contractor Grupotec is on site, with piling, cable trenching, access roads, fencing, foundations, and drainage already under way.

What is being built

The Common Farm Solar Park will have an installed capacity of up to 49.9 MW, with a 50 MW battery storage facility linking directly into the Thurcroft electricity sub-station around three kilometres to the north of the site. The project sits on a 116-hectare site on the western approach to Dinnington, approximately two kilometres north-east of Junction 31 of the M1.

Key project parameters:

• Solar capacity: 49.9 MW
• Co-located BESS: 50 MW, connecting to Thurcroft sub-station
• Site area: 116 hectares
• Projected output: enough to meet the average annual electricity needs of up to 18,800 homes
• Community benefit fund: £50,000 over the lifespan of the site

OnPath has brought in specialist engineering contractor Grupotec to work on the development, which is scheduled to be completed by mid-2027. Work so far has been on piling, cable trenching, access roads, and fencing for the solar farm, and foundations and drainage have been put in place. Grupotec will carry out operational maintenance and management work for the first two years after generation begins.

Grid connection and consultancy

The project's 50 MW battery storage facility will link directly into the Thurcroft electricity sub-station to help make the energy grid more efficient. TMS Grid has started work on levelling and preparing the 2,500 square metre substation site, with construction of the building expected to start around the end of the year. AECOM is acting as lead infrastructure consultant across the scheme.

Offtake structure

SmartestEnergy and OnPath Energy have signed a co-location agreement for the Common Farm Solar Park, combining solar PV generation with battery energy storage in a single integrated project. Scheduled to begin operations in 2027, the development marks SmartestEnergy's first co-located solar and battery project and OnPath Energy's first hybrid solar-plus-storage project in the UK. A key feature of the agreement is a revenue floor mechanism, which provides developers with greater income certainty while still allowing them to benefit from favourable market conditions.

Co-location is playing an increasingly important role in how the market evolves, particularly as grid capacity becomes more constrained, according to SmartestEnergy's trading team.

Development path

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council voted in favour of the project, with a majority of eight votes to one, in May 2023. OnPath Energy, formerly known as Banks Renewables, submitted planning in 2022. The project has since moved through site access construction, substation preparation, and ecological groundwork - including species-rich grassland planted across the full 116 hectares - before reaching the main construction phase.

Common Farm is one of two solar energy projects currently being developed in Yorkshire by OnPath Energy, with work already underway at the Barnsdale Solar Energy Park near Leeds, while it already owns and operates four onshore wind farms across the county.

The mid-2027 completion date is the figure to watch. Grupotec's two-year post-commissioning O&M commitment means the contractor's performance through the build phase will carry direct consequences for early operational revenue - and for how the SmartestEnergy revenue floor mechanism is tested in practice.