Third Energy - the company which put forward plans to frack in Ryedale - has been acquired by a renewables company.

The Wolfland Group said it planned to take 'a dirty fossil fuel fracking company and turn it into a green energy beacon'.

Mike O’Shea, chief executive of the Wolfland group, said: “If we get this right and we drive the green agenda, taking a dirty fossil fuel fracking company and turning into a green energy beacon, I just think that’s wonderful, so we jumped into it straightaway.”

Steve Mason, one of the directors, added: “The government is talking up green energy and green jobs. But this is it in a package. This is the real-life example of what the government is talking up.

“This is about turning stranded fossil fuel assets into green energy assets.”

The company said it plans to install 28MW of battery storage later this year on the site of a former gas fired power station.

They are also due to apply for planning permission for a 50MW solar farm nearby and expect a geothermal pilot project in a former well will be ready by the end of this year.

In the longer term, Third Energy is also looking at the feasibility of producing green hydrogen or storing carbon.