The Secretary of State has granted development consent for Cleve Hill Solar Farm in Kent.
Once built the site will comprise a solar photovoltaic array made up of 880,000 solar panels, electrical storage in the form of a lithium battery storage plant and connection infrastructure. The generation capacity will be over 350MW and enough to power 91,000 homes, making it the UK's largest solar farm.
The development is anticipated to cost £450 million and will operate largely without Government subsidy. Such a large scale renewable energy project will help towards the UK's climate change targets.
However the development has not been without controversy, and there have been many objections to its scale and location since plans were submitted back in 2017. Environmental campaigners raised concerns over the developments destruction of the landscape, loss of farmland, and the damage to wildlife, with the RSPB, Greenpeace and the Campaign to Protect Rural England all citing objections to the plans.
The Planning Inspectorate’s Chief Executive, Sarah Richards, commented: ''The Planning Inspectorate is committed to giving local communities the opportunity of being involved in the examination of projects that may affect them. Local people, the local authority and other interested parties were able to participate in a 6-month long examination. The Examining Authority listened and gave full consideration to local views before making their recommendation.''
Plans to preserve native woodland and scrub by the addition of a habitat management area were included in the projects development consent in attempts to minimise the sites impact on the local environment.
There were also safety concerns raised by objectors to the plans, who were worried about the risk of explosion from the huge battery storage plant on the site. The site owners said they are working with industry leading battery suppliers and provided reassurances on safety standards.
Cleve Hill Solar farm is a joint project between Hive Energy and Wilson Energy, who hope to begin construction next year and have the site operational by 2023. They claim the development will bring £1 million in annual revenue to local authorities, as well as creating new jobs.
