Plans for 40-acre Cheshire solar farm revived
A solar farm the size of 20 football pitches could be constructed on farmland off Hunerston Road in Hatherton, under plans submitted by Noventum Power.
The scheme, to be built across four agricultural fields, amounts to a resurrection of plans approved in 2016, when Green Switch Capital won approval for a solar farm on the same site.
The proposals were for a facility with a capacity of 7.46 MW, which would have generated sufficient energy for more than 2,000 homes for 25 years.
Cheshire East Council rejected the proposals, which met with resistance from some members of the local community, but that decision was overturned at appeal.
However, the project was never delivered and the planning consent has now lapsed.
Noventum is now picking up where Green Switch left off, submitting early-stage plans for a facility that would have a 40-year lifespan.
The solar farm would comprise ground-mounted panels and have a maximum export capacity of 12.5MW.
Earlier this year, plans for a considerably larger solar farm in Cheshire emerged.
A joint venture between Peel NRE and Cubico Sustainable Investments started a consultation on its ambitions for a large-scale renewable energy facility on 780 acres in Frodsham.
Peel Cubico Renewables’ proposed solar farm would have a capacity of around 150 megawatts – enough to power more than 34,000 homes, according to the company.
