Sheepwash Solar Farm
Statkraft submitted a planning application to Maidstone Borough Council for a solar farm on land at Little Cheveney Farm, between Claygate and Marden. The planning application was refused by Maidstone Borough Council’s Planning Committee in October 2022. We still believe that our proposal can deliver significant benefits, helping to tackle the climate crisis while boosting biodiversity and investment in the local community. As a result, we have now submitted an appeal against this refusal to the Planning Inspectorate.
The site has been carefully chosen for its potential to deliver renewable electricity to the grid, helping meet national and local renewable energy targets.
The solar energy farm would have an approximate design capacity of 49MW. The solar energy farm would be expected to generate enough energy to power around 14,200 homes every year.
Project Summary
The climate emergency is real. Kent is already experiencing the effects of climate change - hotter, drier summers, warmer, wetter winters and more frequent and severe extreme weather.
This project offers the single biggest action Maidstone Borough Council can take right now to tackle climate change.
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Renewable energy – targets and benefits
In June 2019, the UK government set a legally binding target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Their aim: to set a world-leading target that will bring to an end the UK’s contribution to climate change.
Maidstone Borough Council declared a climate emergency in April 2019 and adopted a climate change action plan in October 2020. The action plan explains that the council will “take every opportunity to generate renewable energy across the Borough”.
Sheepwash solar energy farm will not only deliver climate change benefits, it will also deliver biodiversity and landscape enhancements, local jobs during the construction period, and a community benefit fund.
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Why Statkraft?
Statkraft is Europe’s largest generator of renewable energy and the leading developer in the European solar market. Having acquired solar pioneer Solarcentury in November 2020, our highly skilled development team operates across 21 countries.
Our vision is a world that runs entirely on renewable energy. We believe that renewable energy can power every industry, every business, every community, every home. It can power progress. It can power possibilities. For us to meet growing energy demand, keep our planet’s temperature below breaking point, and close the gap for nearly one billion people in the world who still have no access to electricity, renewable energy can’t be part of the solution - it must be the solution.
When developing a project, Statkraft manage the whole process – from the early stages of community engagement, to submission of a planning application, to financing, construction and operation of the solar energy farm. We are committed to engaging with local communities throughout project development and welcome community input to our projects.
Read more about our ambitions
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Have your say
We have engaged with local residents and representatives through the planning process. We are grateful to everyone who participated constructively in the plans; our proposals changed in response to feedback from local people.
If you have any further questions about Sheepwash Solar Farm, please contact us using the details below:
Email: ukprojects@statkraft.com
Write: Sheepwash Solar, Statkraft, 19th Floor, 22 Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4BQ, United Kingdom
The project team
Further reading
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Solar power
The world is embracing solar power on a scale we haven’t seen before; it’s a clean, abundant source of energy bringing benefits at the local and global scale. Statkraft has developed solar projects...
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Renewables leader Statkraft boosts solar capability with the acquisition of Solarcentury
Statkraft, Europe’s largest producer of renewable energy, has signed an agreement to acquire the solar pioneer Solarcentury. Together the companies are well positioned for accelerated growth in solar...
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