A local authority in England is to build an around 35MW solar farm with co-located 27MW battery storage this year and has plans to build a second in partnership with Gridserve.
Warrington Borough Council said the projects would make it the first local authority to produce all its own electricity from clean energy.
Gridserve has reached financial close on the project and construction of the 34.7MWp hybrid solar farm plus storage at York is due to commence imminently.
The York solar farm and battery storage system is being built on 198 acres of low-grade agricultural land at Boscar Grange, near Easingwold, and is expected to be operational by October.
That project is due to be followed by a 25.7MWp solar farm at Hull. A battery storage system is also planned to be installed at Hull in a later phase of the project.
Warrington Borough Council has agreed to pay £62.34m for the two solar farms and will take ownership when they are operational.
Gridserve will continue to operate and maintain the solar farms over their lifetimes to maximise system performance and value for the council.
The Hull solar farm will supply all the council’s electricity needs and cut energy bills by up to £2m a year, said Gridserve. Electricity from the York solar farm will initially be sold on the open market.
“These will be the most advanced solar farms in the UK – and quite possibly the world – ushering in a new era of subsidy-free, truly sustainable energy,” said Gridserve chief executive Toddington Harper (pictured).
“We have completely rethought the solar model, looking in detail at how to maximise value at every step, and these projects will also pioneer the use of cutting-edge technologies that serve the grid”.
Investec Bank and Leapfrog Finance will fund construction of the two solar farms.