The two developers say that the project could be built without any subsidies.
The huge size of the project has led it to be classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), which means that the project needs approval from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary of State Greg Clark, PV Magazine reported.
The project will be located Britain’s North Kent Coast and a relatively low-grade farm land is expected to be used for the solar farm’s construction.
It could generate enough electricity to be supplied to 110,000 UK homes. The developers said that the project will be connected to the existing National Grid transmission network.
The developers also plan to include an energy storage system at the plant to provide balancing services for the grid.
It is estimated that the project could bring £27.25m in investment over the project’s life time, while providing more than £1m per year to the local government in terms of taxes.
Hive’s Hugh Brennan was quoted by Solar Power Portal as saying: “The Cleve Hill Solar Park is a pioneering scheme that aims to optimise the technological developments in solar energy. Our ambition is to deliver the first non-subsidised renewables project of this scale, delivering low cost, clean, home-grown energy to power UK households.”
Image: The 350MW solar project has been classified as NSIP and it needs permission from BEIS, UK. Photo: Courtesy of RK008/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
