Cleve Hill Solar Park & How it Will Change UK Energy

Cleve Hill Solar Park has been granted development consent and is set to change the UK renewable energy landscape forever. Read on for essential details on the solar farm cost, the Cleve Hills location, benefits and what the Cleve Hill solar farm will mean for locals.

What is largely considered the UK’s biggest ever solar park has now been given government approval, with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Alok Sharma, giving the project the green light.

The solar panel farm has been named Cleve Hill Solar Park, and will house a lithium battery storage plant that will be around the size of 20 football pitches.

Cleve Hill Solar Park will boast approximately 880,000 solar panels and is expected to provide enough clean electricity to power over 91,000 UK households - generating around 50MV of energy in the process.

The park is also expected to generate a million pounds of revenue every year for the relevant local authorities.

UK law: All Greenhouse Gas Emissions to Zero by 2050The solar farm comes at a crucial time for climate change action, with the UK being the first major economy to pass a law that stipulates a greenhouse gas emission rate of net zero by 2050.

Who is behind the Cleve Hills Solar Park?

The Cleve Hill Solar Park is a joint venture between two UK energy providers - Wirsol Energy and Hive Energy. The providers in question are backing the project financially, so it’s not entirely a government initiative.

Where is the Cleve Hill Solar Park located?

The Cleve Hill Solar Park farm location can be found on Kent’s north coast, around 1 mile northeast of Faversham, with the closest village to the development being Graveney.

The location is considered important by wildlife experts both nationwide and abroad, with wildlife protections in place for some of the surrounding areas. The local ecosystem includes wetlands, estuaries and marine areas.

Solar Farm Cost

Cleve Hill Solar Park is likely to cost around £450 million, and whilst the Kent countryside will be radically altered in the building process, backers believe the move is completely justified, maintaining that cleaner energy is the way forward for Britain.

It’s worth noting that whilst the project is an expensive one, it won’t actually involve any government subsidies. The solar panel farm aims to be one of the lowest cost generators of electricity for the UK, and Swale and Kent Councils are set to receive around £1 million of revenue each year for the lifetime of the project.

Cleve Hill Solar Park: What are the Benefits?

Now that the Cleve Hill Solar Farm has received a green light from officials, what does this mean for the UK’s clean energy future? What makes this project unique from all the other solar energy developments across the UK? Well, this solar energy project boasts the following features and benefits:

• Sheer size alone: Cleve Hill Solar Park is about five times the size of any other solar endeavour currently operating in the UK.
• Generating huge amounts of sustainable energy: The solar panels are set to generate more clean electricity for the UK compared to other solar panel developments, leading to a more sustainable future for the environment.
• A unique design concept: The solar panel farm is designed to have its solar panels face east and west, rather than facing south by default. This means that the panels can be installed much closer together.
• Flood risk prevention: Due to the level of flood risk in the area, the solar panels will be placed quite high, and will be almost 4 meters tall in some places. This design is likely to have a more industrial aesthetic quality to it.
• Green energy jobs: Cleve Hill Solar Park is set to create long and short-term jobs for those local to the area. Roles will include site management and contract opportunities, whilst helping to boost local supply chains.