Solar farm to be constructed on land close to North Yorkshire's former Kellingley Colliery

Harworth Group plc, the brownfield land regeneration and property investment specialist, has completed a deal to construct a 5MW solar farm in 28 acres of land near the former Kellingley Colliery in North Yorkshire.

Kellingley Solar Farm Limited secured planning consent for the solar farm in July 2015, and just last month the company completed a 31 year lease with Harworth Group.

Construction of the solar farm will commence shortly, with a target generation date of March 2017.

This solar farm, which will be the tenth farm operating on Harworth land in the UK, will deliver a maximum of 62.8MW of energy capacity – enough to power over 20,000 family homes.

Hannah Moxon, senior estates manager in Harworth’s Natural Resources team, said: “This is an excellent deal for Harworth and low-carbon energy developments form an important part of increasing our recurring income base.

“Although the basis for renewables subsidies has now changed, we remain convinced that solar and wind farms are an important part of the UK energy mix and we believe the Government’s proposed Industrial Strategy should reintroduce incentives to bring further developments forward. “

Harworth’s Natural Resources team is dedicated to developing low-carbon energy projects and has developed a series of renewable energy schemes on its land in partnership with a number of energy companies.

The company’s portfolio includes 23 operating low-carbon energy schemes, including solar farms, wind farms and coal mine methane extraction operations, delivering a total of over 100MW of operational energy capacity.