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A solar farm built in the countryside could power more than 18,000 homes a year, a developer said.

Renewable Connections Developments wants to install panels on about 96 hectares (237 acres) of farmland off Treading Bank, near Gorefield in Cambridgeshire.

It said there was a “significant” need for more solar farms and after 40 years the land would be returned to agricultural use.

Plans for the Treading Bank Solar Farm have been submitted to Fenland District Council.

The planning documents stated the site would be linked directly to the electricity grid and said there were no proposals for a battery storage system on site.

The developer highlighted government targets to reduce emissions and that decarbonising the power sector “is integral to achieving this goal”, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The plans said the farmland where the solar farm was proposed was mostly made up of a mix of “good quality” and “very good quality” agricultural land.

The developer said it had looked at other sites but concluded there were no other “suitable and available” places to build it that would make a “comparable contribution to renewable energy”.

A spokesperson wrote in the application: “At the end of the operational lifespan (circa 40 years), the solar panels and other infrastructure would be removed, and the site restored back to full agricultural use.”