By Alex Kinnear-Mellor, Head of Corporate Affairs, Global
Last week in London, Elements Green won Campaign of the Year at The Energy Awards 2026.
The award recognised our statutory consultation campaign for the proposed Great North Road Solar and Biodiversity Park (GNR), a nationally significant solar, biodiversity and energy storage project in Nottinghamshire currently going through the Development Consent Order process.
We are proud of the win. But what it represents matters more than the award itself.
What we were up against
This was not a small category. We were shortlisted alongside some of the largest and most established organisations in the UK energy sector, including National Grid Electricity Distribution, SP Energy Networks, npower Business Solutions and Utilita Energy. These are organisations with thousands of employees, substantial budgets and decades of experience running public-facing campaigns.
The judges described our entry as “a small but beautiful campaign, in a category that had a very high quality of entries. A well-rounded, well measured and well communicated campaign. They listened to feedback from events the year before and made changes, to create a more trustworthy and constructive relationship between parties.”
We did not win because we spent the most. We won because we focused on what actually matters in consultation: listening, responding visibly, and treating communities with respect.
What the campaign involved
In early 2025, our UK Development team delivered eleven statutory public consultation events across the parishes near the proposed GNR site. Ten were in-person; one was online. Events ran from mid-afternoon into the evenings to fit around people’s lives, with a central lunchtime event for those travelling from further afield.
The centrepiece of the campaign was our “You Said, We Did” approach. Following our 2024 non-statutory consultation, we published clear, plain English materials showing what we had changed and why. Attendees could see, in specific terms, how their feedback had shaped the proposals. That transparency changed the nature of the conversation. Discussions moved away from repeating the same concerns and towards practical, constructive input.
We also made a deliberate decision to rename the project to include “Biodiversity” in its title, setting a clear and binding expectation that nature sits alongside energy delivery. Our conservation partnerships with RSPB, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, Sherwood Forest Trust and Trent Rivers Trust were present at events, adding independent credibility to our biodiversity commitments.
Early community benefit through our NG+ fund, worth around £1 million per year subject to consent, meant that local people could see tangible investment in their communities before any planning decision had been made.
What the campaign achieved
The results were practical. Following the 2025 events, we updated the Construction Traffic Management Plan, made further amendments to panel locations, and added more hedgerows and improved permissive routes based on local knowledge shared at events.
That is what good consultation should do. It should change things.
In their own words
Counter Context, our stakeholder engagement partners, said: “It was rewarding to partner with Elements Green to design and deliver a meaningful consultation campaign tailored to the feedback of the local community. The campaign showcased Elements Green’s commitment to inform, understand, and respond to local communities.”
What comes next
Winning this award against organisations of this scale and resource is a genuine endorsement of what our UK Development team achieved. But we are not resting on this. The standard we set in consultation is one we intend to maintain and build on. GNR is now in Examination, and we will carry the same transparency and openness through that process and, if the project is consented, into delivery. This is just the start.
The proposed Great North Road Solar and Biodiversity Park is subject to a Secretary of State decision expected in October 2026.
