A 116-acre solar farm could be built across two fields in a Suffolk village as plans have been submitted to a council.

Applicant Green Switch Capital Limited, an energy developer headquartered in Liverpool, is seeking permission from Babergh District Council to create the solar farm at Grove Farm and land east of the railway line in Bentley. 

Documents submitted to the council on December 5 propose to construct the solar array, which would be in place for 40 years before being returned to its existing condition, on 46.8 hectares (116 acres) of arable land. 

The solar farm would export up to 40 MW of renewable electricity to the National Grid during peak operation and would connect at a high voltage pylon via a Horizontal Directional Drill beneath the railway line.

The proposal also includes a small substation to be constructed next to the pylon to facilitate the connection into the transmission network.

According to documents put to Babergh District Council, solar panels would be arranged in rows set around 2.5m to 3.5m apart with the maximum height of the panels being 3m. 

The closest home to the site would be Maltings House, which is around 250m to the east, and the site is about 1km south of the Suffolk Coast and Heaths National Landscape, which is legally an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. 

Capel St Mary Parish Council have declined to comment on the application. 

A statement on behalf of Green Switch Capital Ltd said: "This landowner is eager to support a solar farm to tackle the climate emergency and energy crisis."

It also stated that an Alternative Site Assessment was carried out and it was found that "there are no better alternative locations within Babergh District for a commercial solar array with a generating capacity of 40 MW to connect into the 132kV power line identified as the point of connection with the National Grid."