GBP 450 million solar-storage complex approved in the UK

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in the UK has granted the development consent for the proposed Cleve Hill Solar-Storage Park on the North Kent Coast. 

The solar-plus-storage complex is planned to have a total generating capacity of 350 MW. The planning consent was awarded to Cleve Hill Solar Park Ltd, a joint venture company of UK solar developers Hive Energy and Wirsol Energy Ltd. The project will require an estimated investment of about GBP 450 million (US$555.2 million).

The project will be located approximately 2 km northeast of Faversham and 5 km west of Whitstable. The plant will generate enough clean renewable electricity to power over 91,000 homes, reducing the UK's dependence on fossil fuels and lowering CO2 emissions by 68,000 tonnes a year. The project won’t require any Government subsidies and aims to be one of the lowest-cost generators of electricity in the UK.

The developers will use an east-west panel orientation in the UK for the Cleve Hill Solar Park, which will be able to generate 44% more electricity generation than the same site with south-orientated panels. The solar park will be coupled with a battery energy storage system facility.