New solar farm to feed up to 8,000 local homes

Knaresbrough-based Harmony Energy has received planning permission to build its first solar farm in the UK after plans were approved for the 30MW (the equivalent of up to 8,000 local homes) development near Driffield, East Riding of Yorkshire.

Planners at East Riding of Yorkshire Council approved the scheme, which will see the installation of solar arrays on low-grade agricultural land to supply low carbon electricity via the Northern Powergrid distribution network, that could .

Peter Kavanagh, CEO at Harmony Energy, said: “Renewable energy, including solar, is critical to ensure the future security of the UK’s energy supply and we are delighted that this scheme has been approved.

“This development will generate up to 30MW of low carbon electricity, which will feed into the local electricity network and supply energy for the equivalent of up to 8,000 local homes.”

The development which will be completely unsubsidised is the latest for the North Yorkshire company, which currently has over 500MW of battery energy storage plants construction-ready in the UK, with another 200MW of solar assets in planning.

Kavanagh added: “Harmony Energy has a proven track record of building, owning and operating windfarms throughout the UK and earlier this year we completed our first utility scale battery energy storage facility, which was the first in Europe to use Tesla’s Megapack technology.

“Now we are looking forward to developing our first solar asset, which forms an important part of our wider pipeline as we continue our growth.”

“With support from major international investors and technology pioneers, we are contributing to the UK’s shift away from fossil fuels.”