Government approves new 190MW solar farm

Campaigners have criticised the government's decision to approve a solar energy development in the North Yorkshire countryside.

Energy Minister Martin McCluskey said the 190MW Helios Solar Farm, based close to the village of Camblesforth, near Selby, was a step towards making Britain a clean energy "superpower".

But residents living nearby said "pure lip service" had been paid to a public consultation.

Developer Enso Energy said the site would provide enough energy to power 47,500 homes.

McCluskey granted a Development Consent Order - a type of planning permission used for nationally significant infrastructure projects - for the development on Wednesday.

In a report on the scheme he said the "national need" outweighed any potential adverse impacts.

The report said: "Families in Yorkshire have seen their energy bills go through the roof as a result of our exposure to volatile gas prices.

"The only way to make British people better off in the long-term is by securing clean, homegrown power that we control.

"Giving the green light to the Helios Solar Farm is another step forward in our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower, creating jobs, driving economic growth and protecting family finances."

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the project will be one of the largest of its kind in the UK, covering 476 hectares of agricultural land.

The development, which will include a battery energy storage scheme (BESS), will connect to the grid via underground cable at the nearby Drax power station.

A spokesperon for the campaign group HALT, which was formed to fight the scheme, said members felt "huge disappointment, frustration, despondency, extreme sadness and fear for their future" at news of the decision.

They added: "Many believe it to have been a foregone conclusion, given that their responses were sought but in most cases blatantly ignored, dismissed, or met with unsubstantiated assurances that they would be addressed satisfactorily but with no guarantees."

They went on to say the government's "ideological and politically imposed target" to achieve net zero by 2050 had meant their concerns had been overridden.

Net zero means balancing the amount of planet-warming "greenhouse" gases produced by human activities with the amount being actively removed from the atmosphere.

Effectively this means no longer adding to the total amount of these gases in the atmosphere to limit climate change.

The Helios development is one of a number of solar farms proposed for the former Selby district that are currently going through the planning process.

Correction 5 December 2025: The Local Democracy Reporting Service report above initially incorrectly stated the solar farm would have an output of 1900MW instead of 190MW.

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