Exeter City Council’s Water Lane Solar Park at Marsh Barton will begin operating this month.

The solar farm is located near the city’s canal on former landfill site. The project consists of 3,700 solar panels generating more than 1 megawatt of renewable energy.

The energy will power the council’s Materials Reclamation Facility and charge the council’s electric vehicles.

Lead councillor for climate change, Cllr Duncan Wood said: “We will be powering our own vehicles […] We are going to have electric trucks collecting your rubbish and cycling, big trucks, this will power them”.

The project was nearly half funded by the European Development Fund, part of the council’s plan to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030.

Cllr Duncan Wood stated: “An awful lot of work has been done in all sorts of areas. This solar farm is a significant step forward in terms of energy independence.”