DETAILS have been revealed of a planned solar farm near Milverton which could provide power for an average of more than 6,000 homes a year.

Novus Renewable Services Ltd, of Cheltenham, wants to use 85 acres of farmland between Preston Bowyer and Halse and Fitzhead as an energy site for the next 40 years.

The company said it would generate 25MW of electricity, offsetting approximately 5,300 tonnes in CO2 emissions per year.

Its formal planning application to Somerset West and Taunton Council (SWT) follows two public meetings held in Milverton and Halse last May and June, each of which was attended by more than 40 people.

Residents were told Novus would set up a community benefit fund offering £6,250 every year ‘to support local projects and priorities’ with another £2,500 annually going to charities throughout the life of the solar plant.

SWT has a target date of January 25, 2023, to determine the application and Novus said if approved it was likely to build it the same year, with construction taking about 16 weeks.

The North Preston Farm site is slightly more than a mile away from another solar farm in Halse which was built in 2012 with a capacity of 8.24MW and operated by Silverstone Green Energy.

Planning consultant Sarang Choudhary, of Wardell Armstrong LLP, said: “The importance of climate change mitigation and adaptation, as well as the need for affordable and secure energy, has never been more relevant.

“Solar energy is considered to be a key player in supporting the transition to a low carbon future and is a growing part of the UK’s energy mix.

“Renewable energy, notably solar energy, is now the cheapest source of energy production across two-thirds of the globe.

“This is particularly key for improving the UK’s energy security and reducing its exposure to the energy-related impacts of international geopolitical events.

“The spike in post-pandemic energy demand, as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have caused energy prices to soar.

“Harnessing solar energy is critical and necessary to minimise the UK’s dependence on energy imported from abroad and instead allow the UK to become a lot more self-sufficient.”

Mr Choudhary said Novus developed and financed renewable energy and battery energy storage systems (BESS) all over the UK.

He said the firm currently had more than 365MW of solar in the final stages of development, as well as more than 150MW of BESS.

The North Preston Farm development would consist of ground-mounted solar panels and ancillary infrastructure such as distribution network operator and customer sub-station building, inverters, transformers, boundary fences, and access tracks.

The panels would generate 25MW of electricity from sunlight to feed into the local distribution network operated by Western Power Distribution, equivalent to the needs of about 6,420 homes per year.

The site would be protected with 45 inward facing CCTV cameras.

Mr Choudhary said after its 40-year operational life, the plant would be decommissioned and the land restored to agricultural use.

However, local residents have started to submit objections to SWT, expressing concern that the development would devalue their homes, would use productive agricultural land instead of brownfield sites or less useful land, and could attract criminals and therefore put homes at risk.