AI tool to drive renewable site planning

A Yorkshire-based tech start-up is set to transform how renewable energy sites are identified, following new public funding to accelerate regional decarbonisation efforts.

Feasibly, founded by Durham University graduates Beth Holloway and Leo Thomson, has secured £112,831 from the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority (YNYCA) to develop a geospatial artificial intelligence (AI) platform designed to support renewable energy planning across the region.

The platform uses advanced AI to analyse grid capacity, planning constraints and land data, enabling users to assess the viability of potential energy sites in seconds rather than weeks.

Marking Feasibly’s first public sector deployment, the project will be tailored to the region’s specific planning and infrastructure needs, including integration with local energy strategies and network data.

Beth Holloway, co-founder of Feasibly, which recently raised £200,000 through PraeSeed, the six-week cohort-based investment programme delivered by NPIF II – PXN Equity Finance and PXN Ventures, said: “The grid connection backlog is the defining constraint on UK renewables right now.

“But the queue isn’t homogeneous - there are pockets of genuine opportunity inside constrained networks, where the right project type, at the right scale, on the right substation feeder, connects in months rather than years. 

“Finding those pockets today is a needle-in-a-haystack problem. 

“Our platform solves it computationally. 

“And building it in direct reference to York and North Yorkshire’s planning priorities means the output is calibrated to what actually matters for approval in this region.”

YNYCA’s ambition to become England’s first carbon negative region by 2040 is driving demand for faster, more efficient ways to identify viable renewable sites, particularly in areas with complex land use and environmental constraints.

By simplifying the assessment process, the platform aims to open up renewable development opportunities to a wider range of organisations, including community groups, landowners and local authorities.

Backed by venture capital and focused on scaling its technology, Feasibly is planning further regional rollouts as it looks to support the UK’s transition to clean energy.

David Skaith, mayor of York and North Yorkshire, added: “We’ve got the landscape, the expertise and the ambition to go further than any other region in England and become the first carbon negative region by 2040. 

“With my £6.75 million Carbon Negative Fund, we’re taking big steps towards our goal by backing the people behind our most pioneering projects – just like our partners at Feasibly, who will use our support to roll out their AI-powered platform to unlock our grid network for renewable energy.

“We’re ambitious here in York and North Yorkshire, and we’re working towards being the first region in England to reach carbon negative by 2040.”

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