A 37MW solar power plant has been successfully connected to the UK grid.

The ground-mounted facility, which is RWE’s first in the UK, is located on a disused airfield at Kencot Hill and will produce enough electricity to power around 10,000 homes.

Solar firm Conergy, which helped connect around 144,000 panels to the grid, will continue to operate and maintain the plant after its ownership is transferred to Foresight Solar Fund.

Robert Goss, MD at Conergy UK said: “There are plenty of brownfield sites left in Britain and a temporary invisible solar farm will always be more popular with the locals than a new housing estate or giant nuclear power station.”

The project will also help reduce carbon emissions by 16,000 tons per year.