Councillors have unanimously backed plans for a 40MW solar farm to be developed at Skeeby, East of Richmond, North Yorkshire, in UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s constituency.
Once operating the solar farm will produce sufficient power for 11,500 houses resulting in C02 savings of 21,250 tonnes per year.
Harmony energy director James Ritchie said: “We are thrilled this important renewable development can proceed.
“Renewable energy is critical to mitigate the negative impact of climate change and help support the UK’s net zero ambition.
“One of the great advantages of solar power is that we can build it without taxpayer support thereby helping reduce energy costs and increase energy security in the UK.
“This proposal creates significant biodiversity gains and as with all our developments there will be an annual community fund to benefit local projects.
“This is in addition to the significant business rates that will be paid and benefit the wider community.”
Harmony Energy is in the final stages of developing a major battery energy storage facility at Pillswood, near Cottingham, in East Yorkshire.
When finished this month, the new facility will have the capacity to store up to 198MWh of power to feed directly back into the network, making it the largest battery energy storage facility in the UK.