Sell a ready to build solar project
Consented, connected projects are what acquisition teams are mandated to find, and confirmed pre 2030 connection dates are the scarcest input in the market.
Why RTB is the most active corner of the market
A ready to build project is a solar scheme with the three hard yards done: land secured, planning consent granted, grid connection accepted. Everything a buyer needs to start construction exists on paper, so what they are buying is time and certainty. Developers sell at RTB to recycle capital into the next scheme; funds and IPPs buy at RTB because acquiring a consented, connected project beats years of development risk. Both sides are rational, which is why the trade is constant, and almost entirely off market.
The pre 2030 premium logic
The GB connection queue grew to more than 700GW before reform (NESO, 2024), and Ofgem's approval of the TMO4+ methodology in April 2025 reordered it: first ready, first connected, with Gate 2 requiring secured land and planning progress. The Clean Power 2030 Action Plan (December 2024) targets 45 to 47GW of solar by the end of the decade. Put those together and a project holding a confirmed pre 2030 connection date sits in a short queue inside a policy window, while most of the pipeline waits behind it. Buyers know this. If your project carries such a date, the market should be told, quietly and properly.
What we do with your project
We appraise it as a buyer would: consent conditions, connection agreement, land terms, cable route, programme to energisation, and where BESS co-location fits. We give you a view on the pricing logic buyers will apply, and then approach the mandates that genuinely match, under confidentiality, with your approval on every name. From heads of terms through exclusivity and due diligence to completion, usually as an SPV share sale, the process is run, not left to drift.
Tell us about the project
Capacity, location, consent status, connection date and status, tenure and timescale. The connection date matters most, so if you have it, lead with it.
Selling an RTB project: common questions
What counts as ready to build?
Land secured, planning consent granted and a grid connection offer accepted. A project with all three is RTB: construction can start once a buyer issues notice to proceed. Anything still waiting on consent or connection is earlier stage, and trades on a different basis.
Why do buyers want RTB projects rather than building their own pipeline?
Time. Developing a project from scratch means years of land, planning and queue risk. Buying RTB converts that into a known cost and a known date, which is why funds and IPPs run standing mandates for consented, connected projects.
Does a pre 2030 connection date really change the price?
It changes the buyer pool and the urgency. After connections reform, confirmed near term dates are scarce, and a project that can energise inside the Clean Power 2030 window is competing with very few others. Pricing is always asset specific; scarcity is not.
Can I sell a project that includes battery storage?
Yes. Co-located solar and BESS schemes, and standalone BESS with accepted connections, trade to a broadly overlapping buyer pool. The shared connection is usually the heart of the value.
What will buyers examine in due diligence?
The planning permission and its conditions, the connection agreement (capacity, date, securities and milestones), the land agreements, grid and cable route rights, and the SPV if the sale is structured as shares. A tidy data room protects both price and timetable.