Milford Haven Port Authority has obtained planning permission on a 25 year term for its proposed 5MW PV system after Pembrokeshire County Council unanimously approved the project yesterday.

Milford Haven Port Authority, which manages Milford Haven Port, the largest port in Wales, submitted the application in September 2012.

The proposed project will be constructed at Liddeston Ridge in Milford Haven on approximately 10 hectares of land. It will be equipped with 20,000 solar panels, each of which are capable of producing around 250 watts. The solar panels will be mounted on aluminium mounting structures. Construction is expected to take around three months.

In a statement sent to Solar Power Portal, a spokesman for the authority said: “There are still commercial considerations to be considered including the cost of the connection to the grid, but I would say that its positive at present and I expect the project move to construction in 2013.”

If built, the grid-connected PV array would produce around 5GWh of electricity on an annual basis.

The proposal is the latest step in the authority’s renewable energy strategy, which has already seen 2,500 panels installed in 2012 across a number of buildings in Milford Marina and Pembroke Port.