Renewable Energy

Renewable energy, land and property

The transition towards a low-carbon energy system is changing the way land and property are used, managed and valued.

Renewable energy technologies can provide opportunities to reduce carbon emissions, improve energy resilience and diversify income from land and property. They can also introduce new considerations relating to land use, planning, infrastructure, environmental impacts, investment and long-term asset management.

Technologies including solar photovoltaic (PV), wind, hydro and battery energy storage can therefore have important implications for landowners, property owners, developers and organisations.

Renewable Energy and Surveying

Renewable energy is not simply a question of technology.

The development and operation of renewable-energy infrastructure can involve questions concerning land, property, leases, valuation, planning, development, environmental impacts, infrastructure and investment — all areas in which surveying expertise can have an important role.

For landowners in particular, renewable energy may provide opportunities to diversify land use and create additional income. However, the suitability and implications of a proposal need to be considered in the context of the particular site, surrounding land uses, environmental constraints, infrastructure and the owner's wider objectives.

RICS has highlighted the role surveyors can play in helping landowners and rural businesses understand opportunities associated with renewable energy, including solar generation and battery storage.

RICS Land Journal – Can solar and battery storage work for the rural sector?

Understanding the Opportunity

The viability of a renewable-energy opportunity will depend upon much more than the availability of land or roof space.

Early consideration may include:

the characteristics and existing use of the site
the scale and type of renewable-energy opportunity
access and infrastructure
grid connection and energy use
planning and environmental considerations
landscape and community context
ownership and property interests
potential lease or development arrangements
financial and investment considerations
long-term management and eventual decommissioning.

An early strategic review can help identify both potential opportunities and issues requiring more detailed specialist investigation.

Solar and Battery Storage

Solar generation has become an increasingly significant consideration for both buildings and land.

At property level, solar PV may contribute to lower-carbon energy generation and reduced dependence on externally supplied electricity. At a larger scale, solar development can create alternative land-use and income opportunities.

Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are also becoming increasingly important as the electricity system incorporates greater levels of renewable generation. Storage can help balance differences between when electricity is generated and when it is required.

For landowners, the combination of renewable generation and storage creates opportunities but also potentially complex questions concerning site suitability, planning, grid capacity, development agreements, leases, risk and long-term land use.

Planning, Land Use and the Environment

Renewable-energy development needs to be considered within its wider physical, environmental and social context.

Planning considerations can include landscape and visual impacts, biodiversity, heritage, agricultural land, flood risk, access, noise and relationships with neighbouring land uses and communities.

The planning and policy framework also continues to evolve as the UK expands renewable and low-carbon energy infrastructure. The current National Policy Statement for Renewable Energy Infrastructure came into force in January 2026 and addresses nationally significant renewable-energy development in England and Wales.

UK Government - National Policy Statement for Renewable Energy Infrastructure

Renewable Energy and Sustainability

Renewable energy forms an important component of the transition towards a lower-carbon economy, but sustainability requires consideration of the wider consequences of energy choices.

Decisions can involve relationships between carbon reduction, land use, biodiversity, natural resources, communities, economic viability and resilience.

A sustainability approach therefore considers renewable energy within the wider context of the property, project or landscape rather than viewing the technology in isolation.

RICS's 2026 Sustainability practice for surveyors places climate-change mitigation and the transition towards a low-carbon built environment among the central sustainability issues affecting contemporary surveying practice.

RICS – Sustainability practice for surveyors

Sustain Surveying and Renewable Energy

Sustain Surveying provides independent professional analysis and advice on renewable-energy and sustainability considerations affecting land, property and development.

Our approach brings together surveying expertise, sustainability research, RICS guidance, government policy and wider professional evidence to help clients understand the opportunities and implications associated with renewable energy.

Advice may include initial consideration of renewable-energy opportunities; background research and evidence review; identification of relevant land, property and sustainability considerations; analysis of environmental and planning context; consideration of stakeholder issues; and interpretation of emerging policy and professional guidance.

Where a project requires specialist technical design, energy modelling, grid-connection advice, planning services, ecological assessment, legal advice, installation or other specialist services, the need for appropriately qualified professional input will be identified.

Discuss a Renewable Energy Opportunity

If you would like to discuss the renewable-energy potential or sustainability implications of a property, area of land, development or project, please contact Sustain Surveying.

Professional advice can be provided for a defined project or instruction, with the scope and fee agreed in advance.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

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