Liverpool John Lennon Airport looks to build solar farm next to runway

The proposed 5,600 panel solar farm would generate about 2.6 million kWh a year

A plan to build a large solar farm alongside Liverpool John Lennon Airport's runway has been unveiled.

The airport wants to build a 13-acre (5 hectare) farm to the east of its site, which it hopes will generate up to a quarter of its annual energy needs.

The airport's representatives told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the plan would help with its "ambitious sustainability targets".

The plan will go before Halton Borough Council in the coming weeks.

The proposals follow a previous application for a solar farm on the site in 2019, which was withdrawn before a decision on planning permission was made.

Since that application, the airport has since extended its runway safety area, which means it only now needs to be granted permitted development rights, rather than be given full planning permission, to build the facility.

The airport hopes to build the solar farm to the east of its runway

If approved, the 5,600 panel farm would be built within four months and generate about 2.6 million kWh a year.

A planning statement prepared for the airport by Pegasus Group said that in addition to "reducing its imported electricity requirements, the airport also has ambitious sustainability targets" and "generating electricity from clean, renewable sources forms part of that strategy".

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