Green light for 49.9 MW English solar

• Aura Power's Hawthorn Pit site in Durham approved on appeal solar

The appeal for Aura Power's Hawthorn Pit Solar Farm in Durham, England, has been permitted, thereby approving planning authorization for the project.

The choice from the Planning Inspectorate, in part, ends: "On balance the system would leave a landscape with boosted biodiversity and ecology constant with the goals of advancement plan policy, in particular Policy 33 of the CDP [County Durham Plan] In these conditions, whilst there would be some localised damage to landscape personality in conflict with the pertinent advancement plan policies, the essential to tackle climate modification, as acknowledged in regulation and also energy policy, and also the extremely significant benefits of the scheme plainly and also emphatically exceed the injury I have actually recognized."

The 49.9 MW Hawthorn Pit site will offer sufficient clean electrical energy to power over 17,000 homes annually, conserving around 15,000 tonnes of carbon emissions, compared with power produced by gas.

The decision also acknowledges "the system consists of substantive planting in the form of trees and hedges ... such jobs are integrated within a Biodiversity Management Plan" as well as are determined to deliver a substantial Biodiversity Net Gain of 124% for habitats and also 135% for hedgerows".

President of Aura Power Simon Coulson claimed: "We are truly pleased the Planning Inspectorate chose to allow our appeal, identifying the considerable benefits that this development will bring.

" Durham County Council has actually proclaimed a Climate Emergency pledging to reduce carbon emissions by 60% by 2030 as well as be carbon neutral by 2050," Coulson added.

" This solar farm as well as others will certainly contribute towards reaching this goal. We will continue to work with the neighborhood community as well as are looking forward to firming up the management of the community advantage fund."

Aura Power supplies a community advantage fund across its UK solar sites, developed to support local social, instructional and also ecological projects in the community.

Building dates have yet to be set for Hawthorn Pit.

The development belongs to a more around 120MW of Aura Power's UK solar propositions awaiting planning decisions. The past year has been just one of the business's most successful yet, as it celebrates its 10th year in the industry, having actually gained planning approval for 440MW of solar and also battery storage projects in the UK alone. The programmer is dealing with a developing 20GW pipe of solar PV and also battery energy storage in the UK, Europe as well as North America.