UK’s ‘Largest’ Solar Farm Enters Construction

Global investment manager Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners says it has started construction on the UK’s ‘largest’ consented solar farm with 373 MW PV and 150 MW battery storage capacity with plans to realize the facility in Kent by the end of 2024.

The Cleve Hill project was cleared by then BEIS Secretary of State Alok Sharma in May 2020 as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project and was said to be delivered by a joint venture (JV) of Hive Energy and Wirsol Energy (see All Decks Cleared For UK’s Largest Solar Park).

It is expected to generate enough clean energy to cover the power needs of more than 100,000 homes in the UK, improving energy security of the country and decarbonizing power grid. The hybrid solar & storage project was one of the winners of the government’s 15-year contract-for-difference (CfD) auction, securing state financing as fully inflation linked contracts.

Quinbrook says the project is expected to generate more than £148 million in local socio-economic benefits.

“High energy prices, geopolitical instability and the UK’s ambitious Net Zero goals are bringing into focus the critical need to accelerate the building of the next generation of energy transition infrastructure in the UK,” said Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Quinbrook Rory Quinlan. “In our view, large scale solar + battery storage projects are key to achieving the decarbonization imperatives of the energy transition the world over and we are doing our best to create a blueprint for more projects to come here in the UK.”

Under its Energy Security Strategy, the UK aims to grow its installed solar power capacity from 14 GW to about 70 GW by 2035, translating into an average of 4 GW annually (see Britain Releases New Energy Security Strategy).