The plant consists of more than 130,000 ground-mounted solar panels and new underground connections to UK Power Networks’ electricity network.
Proposals for the second phase of the project, approximately 18MW, are to be brought forward in the autumn of this year under the government’s contracts for difference (CfD) subsidy regime.
Once both phases are complete, the scheme will save approximately 20,000 tonnes of CO2 per year and generate more than £10 million of income for the county council, which will be reinvested in the Enterprise Park to create jobs.
An additional £25,000 heritage contribution will be made by the developer to the local council to benefit the community.
Scottow Moor Solar is the company specifically created to develop the solar farm. Developer David Fyffe said the project demonstrates “how well the public and private sector can work together to mutual benefit”.
Last year, the government announced plans to scrap the green energy subsidy for solar projects above 5MW, in an attempt to temper what former energy minister Greg Barker described as ‘unrestricted growth of solar farms in the British countryside’.
A few months later, solar companies Lark Energy, Orta Solar Farms, Solarcentury and TGC Renewables, called for a judicial review into the subsidy cuts, but the High Court ruled that they were legal.
Earlier this month, Pinsent Masons found that the number of planning consents approved for solar farms rose by 60 per cent last year as developers hurried to gain government subsidises ahead of an overhaul.