Project Fortress (formerly Cleve Hill Solar Farm) is a

photovoltaic power station A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building- ...

under construction on the Graveney marshes between

Faversham Faversham is a market town in Kent, England, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2, which follows an ancient British t ...

and

Whitstable Whitstable () is a town on the north coast of Kent adjoining the convergence of the Swale Estuary and the Greater Thames Estuary in southeastern England, north of Canterbury and west of Herne Bay. The 2011 Census reported a population of 32 ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

in the UK. Once operational, it will be the largest solar farm in the UK, generating 373 MW of electricity from of vertical

solar panel A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...

s and will also include 700 MWh of battery storage. Because of its size, it is a

nationally significant infrastructure project Nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIP) are major infrastructure developments in England and Wales that bypass normal local planning requirements. These include proposals for power plants, large renewable energy projects, new airp ...

so outside the standard local planning procedure. Electricity will be exported from the project via the 400 kV National Grid substation at Cleve Hill, constructed to serve the

London Array The London Array is a 175-turbine 630 MW Round 2 offshore wind farm located off the Kent coast in the outer Thames Estuary in the United Kingdom. It was the largest offshore wind farm in the world until Walney Extension reached full prod ...

offshore wind farm that lies to the north. Here, a battery array will be placed, that will charge from the sunlight during the day and release the energy at night when it is needed.

History

The solar farm was initially developed in partnership by Hive Energy and Wirsol Energy Ltd under the name Cleve Hill Solar Farm. It was acquired by Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners in October 2021 and renamed Project Fortress. The of Grade 3b agricultural land will be covered by the east-west facing solar photovoltaic panels. The planning process faced opposition by residents and environmental groups on the grounds of

loss of biodiversity Biodiversity loss includes the worldwide extinction of different species, as well as the local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat, resulting in a loss of biological diversity. The latter phenomenon can be temporary or permanent, de ...

resulting from covering large areas with PV panels, and safety, where concerns were raised about a possible fire and explosion of the battery blocks. Construction on the project started in April 2023.

Gallery

Ditches on Graveney marshes - geograph.org.uk - 617077.jpg, Ditches on the Graveney marsh Entrance to Cleve Hill Substation Construction Site - geograph.org.uk - 1418009.jpg, Construction of the sub-station 2009

References

External links

Official site
{{Solar power in the United Kingdom Solar power in the United Kingdom Kent Electric power infrastructure in England Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (United Kingdom)

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links