£30m solar farm plans set for green light

Plans for a £30m North Yorkshire solar farm that could power more than 8,500 homes are recommended for approval tomorrow (10 October 2023).Harmony Energy submitted plans to North Yorkshire Council earlier this year for a site located 2.5km from Malton town centre adjacent to Eden Camp.The company has agreed a deal with landowner The Fitzwilliam Malton Estate to rent about 131 acres.Planning permission is sought for the installation and operation of a solar farm and battery energy storage system (BESS), together with associated infrastructure.The solar farm would have a capacity of up to 30.4MW of electricity, while the battery energy storage system has a capacity of 12.63MW.It has been estimated that the development could meet the average annual electricity needs of 8,660 homes – or just over a third of the households in the Ryedale District.It could also provide carbon dioxide savings of 12,500 tonnes per year, supporting North Yorkshire Council’s aim of the county being carbon Net Zero by 2030.The plans also include the creation of new wildflower meadows, woodland planting and improvements to existing hedgerows, creating an overall biodiversity net gain of more than 105 per cent.In addition to providing a £10,000 per annum community benefit fund for the 40-year lifespan of the scheme, Harmony Energy has signed a letter of intent with nearby Eden Business Park to supply businesses with electricity direct from the proposed solar farm.The application will go before the council’s strategic planning committee on 10 October and is recommended for approval, subject to conditions, in an officer’s report prepared for the meeting.The recommendation has been made despite almost 500 objections to the plans.The report said: “The significant public benefit of the proposal is considered, on balance, to outweigh the policy conflicts identified in this report and the lack of viability evidence used to set the Sequential Test parameters.”