Work is underway on a new £5.2 million solar farm in West Sussex.

The 25-acre farm is being developed on Tangmere Airfield and is expected to be fully operational by October.

Generating 4.85MWp of electricity, is it expected to provide enough clean energy to power over 1,500 homes.

The project is the first of its kind to be delivered by Your Energy Sussex and Carillion.

It marks the start of a large-scale programme that will include further solar farm developments/installations on business premises and social housing to provide low-carbon electricity to tenants.

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The project is expected to take approximately three months to build and connect to the local grid.

The electricity generated will be sold to the National Grid, earning more than £13m through feed-in tariffs over 20 years.

Planning permission has been granted for 25 years, allowing the site to return to its previous state if it is no longer needed as a solar farm.

West Sussex County Council Leader, Louise Goldsmith said: "The new solar farm will reduce our carbon footprint and benefit the local community because the income generated will be used to fund energy efficiency schemes in the local community. This is especially helpful to the low income and vulnerable residents that may be at risk of fuel poverty."

(LM/CD)