Plans to install solar farm approved

Plans to install a solar farm and battery storage facility in Warwickshire have been approved.

Fifty-five hectares (136 acres) of land near Honiley Road, Kenilworth, will be used to generate electricity for the National Grid.

The farm will operate for a temporary period of 40 years, generating around 23 megawatts (MW) of solar energy at any one time.

Applicant Enso Green Holdings P Limited, said there was an "urgent" need for renewable energy in a "climate change emergency", the planning report said.

Potential harm to the green belt was outweighed by other considerations like renewable energy benefits, the report added.

The proposals were approved by the Minister of State Matthew Pennycook, after it was referred to the secretary of state instead of the local planning authority, Warwick District Council.

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