School Aycliffe
School Aycliffe is a 5 MW solar farm in North East England, operated by Lightsource BP. The UK government lists it as operational in its register of power stations (DUKES table 5.11, May 2025).
- PV
- North East
- England
Key facts
- Installed capacity
- 5 MW
- Status
- Operational
- Technology
- Solar Β· PV
- Operator
- Lightsource BP
- Region
- North East
- Country
- England
- Grid connection (DUKES)
- LV
- Combined heat & power
- No
- Postcode
- DL5 6QE
- Coordinates
- 54.6077, -1.5968
Location
Map position from the published coordinates. For small sites this can be an approximate point rather than the exact boundary. Map Β© OpenStreetMap contributors.
How School Aycliffe compares
At a typical UK load factor for this technology (about 10% of the maximum possible output), a 5 MW station would generate roughly 4.4 GWh of electricity in a year, similar to the annual use of about 1,620 homes at 2,700 kWh each. This is an illustrative estimate, not the station's metered output: real generation varies with weather, availability and grid constraints.
Solar photovoltaic (PV) sites generate electricity from sunlight. Panels produce direct current, which inverters convert to alternating current for the grid. Output follows daylight and the seasons, so annual generation is a small fraction of the maximum possible.
All UK solar farms Solar farms in North East All run by Lightsource BPNearby generating sites
- Moor House Wind Farm Β· 12 MW onshore wind farm7.4 km
- Hunger Hill Β· 5 MW solar farm13.3 km
- High Meadow Β· 3.89 MW solar farm13.4 km
- Butterwick Moor Circuit 1 Β· 9.4 MW onshore wind farm14.3 km
- Walkway Β· 14 MW onshore wind farm14.3 km
- Butterwick Moor Circuit 2 Β· 9.4 MW onshore wind farm14.3 km
- Trimdon Β· 5.2 MW onshore wind farm16.0 km
- Red Gap Β· 12.5 MW onshore wind farm18.3 km
Also operated by Lightsource BP
Lightsource BP operates 129 sites in the register. Largest first:
Planning history
From the government's Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD), matched to this site by location, capacity and name.
- Planning status
- Operational
- Site name in planning record
- Field at School Aycliffe Lane
- Developer / operator
- Lightsource Renewable Energy
- Planning authority
- Darlington
- Planning reference
- 14/01305/FUL
- Application submitted
- 9 January 2015
- Permission granted
- 30 June 2015
- Construction started
- 23 October 2015
- Began operating
- 16 December 2015
- Capacity in planning record
- 5 MW
- Address
- School Aycliffe Lane, School Aycliffe, Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, County Durham, DL5 6QE
- REPD reference
- 4935
Source
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES), table 5.11: power stations in the United Kingdom β operational at end of May 2025.
Capacity is installed capacity as published, not current output. Status reflects the source date, not live operation.
View the original source
Last checked by Octary: 15 July 2026
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