UK: 150MW Cleve Hill BESS project rejected by local authority

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email

A 150MW battery energy storage system (BESS), to be deployed along with 373MW of solar PV as part of the Cleve Hill Solar Park project, has reportedly been rejected by the local planning authority in the UK.

The local planning committee for Swale Borough Council in the county of Kent, near London, has refused an application to install at the BESS part of the project.

According to an article carried by national broadcaster BBC, residents feared using lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells to store energy. This led to a protest outside the council’s office before the planning committee meeting on Wednesday (28 February).

Past coverage by our colleagues at Solar Power Portal on the project, which was renamed Project Fortress, indicated that the battery storage element of the project would include an installed capacity of 150MW, making it amongst the largest in the country.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

Not ready to commit yet?
  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

The report from the Council claimed that LFP batteries are “more subject to explosion risk than other types” and that committee members rejected the battery safety management plan for the site “after nearly four hours of debate”.

The primary cause for the rejection of the safety management plan was due to a “lack of water storage facilities on site, a lack of access to the battery storage area, and the lack of an evacuation plan”.

It is worth noting that the Cleve Hill project went into construction in April 2023, and investor Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners has described the facility as the UK’s “largest solar and battery energy storage project”.

See the full original version of this article on Solar Power Portal.

Read Next

August 29, 2025
The Australian government has opened two CIS tenders in Western Australia, targeting 2.4GWh of energy storage and 1.6GW of renewables.
August 28, 2025
California utility Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) has pushed back recommissioning of the Elkhorn battery energy storage system (BESS) by approximately one year, to 30 June 2026.
Premium
August 27, 2025
We catch up with the CEO of BESS developer Harmony Energy about its strategy and plans going forward, following the sale of its affiliated Harmony Energy Income Trust (HEIT).
Premium
August 27, 2025
Following in the footsteps of several other US jurisdictions this year, officials at California’s Orange County are one step closer to amending zoning laws to allow the development of BESS. 
August 27, 2025
“Battery energy storage systems (BESS) typically change ownership between two and four times during their 40-year lifecycle,” John Sheehy, CEO of Pottinger, said on day two of the Battery Asset Management Summit Australia 2025 this morning.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter