Cheshire hosts the major UK chemical industry cluster (Runcorn, Northwich) including Croda International, INEOS, Tata Chemicals, plus pharmaceutical manufacturing (AstraZeneca Macclesfield) and dairy production. Continuous-process operations deliver exceptional solar economics.
Local context — Cheshire
Cheshire chemical and pharmaceutical operations are IETF-eligible (fund closed July 2025). SP Energy Networks DNO. Self-consumption ratios of 90-95% typical for continuous-process plants. The combination of large clear-span manufacturing roof areas plus continuous process load plus IETF eligibility (fund closed July 2025) produces UK's strongest manufacturing solar economics.
Modelled scenario — Cheshire
Illustrative worked example — modelled from this site's indicative bands, not a real project.
A 2.4 MW solar PV install on a Cheshire chemical manufacturing site. IETF-funded at 32% intervention. First-year generation 2.22 GWh. Self-consumption 94%. Annual savings £465,000. After-tax-and-IETF payback 2.1 years.