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PWA Planning helps get green light for £30m Skeeby solar farm

Harmony Energy solar farm

PWA Planning has helped to secure planning permission for a £30m renewable energy scheme in Skeeby, North Yorkshire, on behalf of Harmony Energy.

The solar scheme will produce enough renewable energy to power 11,500 homes a year resulting in C02 savings of 21,250 tonnes per year.

It was given the go-ahead by Richmondshire District Council, whose planning committee voted unanimously in favour of the development.

Based on land off Darlington Road, the project will feature ground-level solar panels and an energy storage facility to generate and store up to 40MW of low carbon electricity.

The 69.5-hectare site, currently used as agricultural land, will also benefit from a 118 per cent increase in biodiversity through the creation of grassland and a wildflower meadow.

Louise Leyland, associate at PWA Planning, said: “The project is one of the first UK subsidy-free projects and is a major milestone in the fight against climate change – helping generate enough energy to power the equivalent of over 11,000 homes a year without the need for fossil fuels. We’re thrilled to have secured planning permission for the scheme.

“We’re proud to be working in partnership with Harmony Energy to bring forward plans for this new solar farm in Skeeby.”

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 builds, owns and operates wind, solar and battery energy storage assets to assist in the creation of renewable energy systems. It has successfully developed renewable projects across multiple technologies throughout the UK as well accelerating development activities in France and New Zealand.

Harmony 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 198 megawatt hours of power to feed directly back into the network, making it the largest battery energy storage facility in the UK.

In July 2022, we launched Energy Planning by PWA to support clients in the renewable energy sector and delivering planning services for energy storage, solar and wind projects.

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