Aviation minister Keir Mather officially switches on Liverpool John Lennon Airport’s new £3m solar farm that could meet up to 25% of its current electricity demand. Tony McDonough reports
A new £3m solar at Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LJLA) is now fully operational after an official switch-on.
Minister for Aviation, Maritime and Decarbonisation, Keir Mather, officially opened the facility during a visit to the airport. It is capable of generating up to 3MW of electricity, powering up to 25% of the airport’s current overall electricity demand.
This project forms part of LJLA’s decarbonisation strategy which aims to transform itself into a net zero carbon operation by 2040. Solar panel experts Activ8 Energies in partnership with SSE Airtricity, designed and installed the new solar farm.
It is located within the airport perimeter fence on land to the east of the runway. The Minister performed the switch-on as part of a wider visit to also find out about the airport’s recovery since the pandemic, with 2025 being the airport’s busiest year ever.
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In January LBN revealed LJLA had handled more than 5.6m passengers in 2025 – the highest number in its 92-year history. This beats the previous record of 5.5m passengers set in 2007.
LJLA chief executive John Irving said: “We really appreciate The minister taking the time to meet with us today to see at first hand our recent progress and our commitment to minimising energy use and how we are working to reduce our CO2 emissions.”
Prior to the construction of the solar farm the airport had already significantly reduced its energy usage. In 2010 it used around 14.5m kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity and now that is down to under 10m kWh a year.
Ciaran Marron, chief executive of Activ8 Energies, added: “We’re proud to have partnered with SSE Airtricity and Liverpool John Lennon Airport to deliver a system that will generate clean electricity on site for decades to come.
“With an installed capacity of up to 3 MW, the solar farm will make a significant contribution to reducing the airport’s carbon footprint while strengthening its energy resilience.”