373 MW Cleve Hill Solar Park begins commercial operations in the United Kingdom

Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, a global investment manager specialised in infrastructure dedicated to energy transition, has confirmed the start of commercial operations at the Cleve Hill Solar Park located in Kent, United Kingdom, boasting a total capacity of 373 megawatts (MW).

A major solar project for the United Kingdom

Cleve Hill Park is now exporting at full capacity, with its 373 MW direct current (DC), more than four times the size of the second largest operational British solar project. During the commissioning phase in May, the park’s peak electricity export level equated to 0.7% of the UK’s national energy demand.

This project was the first solar and battery storage asset to be approved as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP). It benefits from the largest combined solar plus battery energy storage system (BESS) financing ever achieved in the United Kingdom, including a GBP 218.5 million (USD 276 million) term loan and a GBP 20 million (USD 25 million) VAT facility secured from Lloyds and NatWest banks.

Construction of the country’s largest energy storage facility

In parallel, construction work is underway on a co-located battery energy storage system with a capacity of 150 MW. Upon completion, this will become the largest combined solar and storage project ever built within the British power market.

Cleve Hill is also the first solar NSIP in the country to have secured a Contract for Difference (CfD), awarded by the UK Government-backed Low Carbon Contracts Company. This award represents the largest allocation for a solar project in Round 4 of the CfD auction scheme.

Strategic commercial partnerships

Additionally, Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners has signed a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Tesco PLC, representing the largest corporate solar PPA agreement signed to date in the UK.

Cleve Hill Solar Park, developed in partnership with Private Energy Partners, is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 142,000 tonnes in its first year of operations. Local socio-economic impact is anticipated to exceed GBP 114 million (USD 144 million) throughout the project’s lifetime, supporting more than 2,500 direct and indirect jobs.

Rory Quinlan, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Quinbrook, said: “Quinbrook is proud to have successfully delivered a strategic infrastructure project playing a tangible role in the UK energy transition. Achievements like Cleve Hill set a new scale benchmark and should strengthen confidence that the UK’s renewable energy objectives can be met.”