Elvington Solar Farm & BESS
Providing Clean, Green Energy for Kent
Community Consultation & Scheme Improvements
On 30th October 2024, we hosted a community consultation event at Nonington Village Hall. The event provided an opportunity to share our vision for the proposed Elvington Solar Farm & Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) while listening to valuable feedback from the local community.
With over 60 attendees, the event fostered constructive discussions around the scheme’s design, environmental benefits, and potential community opportunities. We are grateful to those who participated and took the time to provide input via face-to-face discussions, feedback forms, and online submissions.
Your Feedback, Our Actions: Key Project Enhancements
We are committed to ensuring our proposals reflect local priorities. In response to the feedback received, we have made significant improvements to the scheme, including:
✅ Enhanced Residential Setbacks & Screening
Increasing buffer zones by offsetting panels further from residential areas.
Strengthening landscape screening and biodiversity enhancements to improve local outlook.
✅ Boosting Biodiversity & Habitat Creation
Expanding areas dedicated to habitat enrichment and ecological improvement, aligning with our commitment to Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG).
Shaping the Future: Your Community Benefits Package
Beyond delivering renewable energy and environmental gains, we are keen to support local initiatives. We continue to welcome suggestions on how our Community Benefits Package can contribute to Elvington and Nonington.
Have your say!
If you have ideas for local projects or improvements, we encourage you to share your thoughts via the contact details below.
Benefits of Elvington Solar Farm & BESS
The solar farm & BESS will assist Dover District Council in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in line with national and local targets in response to the Climate Emergency.
The project will deliver net beneficial gains for biodiversity. Solar farm installations have a small footprint on the land they occupy, leaving considerable scope for biodiversity enhancements. Research has shown that responsibly managed solar farms can play an important role in reducing the decline in biodiversity.
Existing trees and hedgerows will be retained and protected and supplemented by additional native species planting to support local habitats as part of a wider ecological network.
We are committed to using local suppliers and contractors during construction and long-term operation of the project, which will benefit the local economy, and provide jobs to people in the local area.
The proposal does not require the stopping or diversion of any public rights of way.
This is a temporary development, allowing the land to rest for the period of operation up to 40 years. Decommissioning and full restoration of the site at the end of life of the development will be secured via planning condition.
PACE is seeking to engage with the local community to support projects in the local area.
The project does not require Government subsidies.
About Us
PACE is a leading independent developer of energy projects.
PACE was established in 2017 as a global developer and investor in clean energy and brings together over 120 years of experience from across the technical and financial supply chain.
We are working with the National Grid to develop a portfolio of strategically located solar photovoltaic and battery storage installations that ensure low carbon electricity is delivered when and where it is most needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
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The Climate Emergency, the cost of living crisis and the energy crunch are all linked by how we generate, use and supply energy. We urgently need to generate energy from new, low cost, low carbon sources and solar is the lowest cost and quickest to deploy of all energy sources. It is currently one-ninth the cost of gas and less than one third of the cost of nuclear.
Solar power is already yielding tangible results. For instance, during the period from June to August in 2022, solar power frequently contributed up to 25% of the UK's daytime electricity (according to the National Grid ESO carbon app).
Even in winter, solar panel technology is still effective; at one point in February 2022, solar was providing more than 20% of the UK’s electricity (According to the National Grid).
Solar power is a core part of the Governments’ Net Zero target, and it intends to more than triple solar power capacity by 2030.
Achieving this objective requires the deployment of larger scale solar farms as well as on the rooftops of industrial and residential buildings.
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The solar farm is a temporary development and will not change the land classification. At the end of the projects lifecycle, it will be decommissioned and the land will return to its previous agricultural usage.
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Solar helps address climate change, which is the single biggest threat to UK food security. This is according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which says that climate change could reduce the UK’s stock of high-grade agricultural land by nearly three-quarters by 2050. Because solar farms generate near zero-carbon electricity, they help address climate change and are actually helping to improve the UK’s food security.
The UK Food Security Report (2021) found that “the biggest medium to long term risk to the UK’s domestic production comes from climate change and other environmental pressures like soil degradation, water quality and biodiversity”. Solar farms currently account for 0.08% of total land use in the UK (Solar Energy UK 2022). The Government targets for a fivefold increase in solar would result in 0.3% of the UK land area being used by solar (Carbon Brief, 2022). This is the equivalent to around half of the space used by golf courses.
This temporary proposal (40 years) will allow the soil to rest and improve its quality. The biodiversity of the site will significantly improve as a result of this proposal. Conditions will be set should permission be granted that will guarantee the land will be returned to agricultural usage after 40 years.
The land will also not be removed from food production as the land will have a duel use. We will intend to graze sheep underneath the solar panels.
Currently 240kHA is used for horses. 42% of land in the UK is BMV and 100kHA of that BMV land as an average, is currently used for horses.
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Battery energy storage sites are not usually audible above ambient noise- levels. A full noise assessment has been conducted for the site which will accompany the submission of our application
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The BESS is a temporary development and will not change the land classification. When the BESS has been decommissioned, the consent will require the land to be restored to its previous purpose. This means the site remains classified as agricultural greenfield and does not become previously developed ‘brownfield’ land in policy terms.
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Once operational the BESS facility will have a low- impact presence with only the occasional operations and maintenance visit. The only period with potential traffic impact is during the short-term temporary construction phase, which is estimated to take between 6-8 months.
The Applicant has undertaken a Road Safety Audit and Transport Assessment and would undertake a Construction Traffic Management Plan (CTMP) prior to the commencement of development which will be reviewed by the Highways Authority. This will be reviewed by the Highways Authority during the consultation phase. Once agreed, it will form a condition of any planning permission and will be implemented during the construction phase. The aim of the CTMP is to reduce the impact of the construction phase on the highway network.
Please do let us know your thoughts on the above, some of the other concerns raised on their website we deemed unnecessary to respond to and in some cases counter-productive, e.g. loss of jobs, devaluation. However, we are of course happy to address further issues if that is preferred.
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Measures will be in place to ensure that all public pathways remain accessible and unimpacted during and after construction.
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For our solar farm projects we require a nearby grid connection, a well-screened site that is consistent with planning policy and a supportive landowner. Elvington Solar Farm & BESS offers all of these features.
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Solar panels have no moving parts and emit no sound. Inverters and transformers can emit very low- level sound, but these are sited away from houses and cannot be heard from more than a few metres away.
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Comprehensive assessments have been made on visual impacts of the Proposed Development within the accompanying Landscape and Visual Appraisal.
The application is accompanied by a Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment, which assesses the visual impact of the proposed development and the mitigation measures proposed to minimise harm to an acceptable level
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There is no evidence that solar farms have a negative impact on wildlife. In fact, wildlife thrives within the sites when managed sensitively. We are committed to significant net biodiversity gain at Elvington Solar Farm & BESS through the creation of new habitats to support local wildlife. Existing hedgerows will be strengthened and new hedgerows will be planted to improve habitat connectivity across the site. We will set aside a significant proportion of the land for habitats to support mammals, birds and invertebrates.
Further ecological enhancement measures such as bird boxes and bat boxes will be placed within the site to encourage those populations to prosper.
The application is accompanied by an Agricultural Land Classification Report, Ecological Assessment and a Landscape and
Ecological Management Plan which will ensure that the Proposed Development delivers significant Biodiversity Net Gain to the area. Wildlife and the environment will be better off because of the Proposed Development.
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The battery enclosures are specifically engineered to guarantee secure operation throughout the project’s lifespan. Advanced safety measures, including continuous monitoring of individual battery cells, are in place to promptly address any potential concerns and manage operations for utmost safety.
Battery energy storage systems are designed to adhere to stringent safety standards established by international regulatory bodies like the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). These comprehensive standards encompass various facets of battery storage systems, including installation, operation, and maintenance, to ensure their compliance with the highest safety protocols.
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The Lithium-Ion batteries that will be used in the project are not reliant on scarce raw materials. There are established recycling processes for recovering the most common elements used in battery construction - cobalt, nickel, lithium and manganese - for re-use.
Public Consultation Event
We held a consultation event on Wednesday 30th October 2024 at Nonington Village Hall, Dover, CT15 4HA (2pm - 7pm)
Contact Us
If you wish to contact us or require further information, please feel free to use the form (situated to the left) or by the following methods:
feedback@alpacacommunications.com
020 3393 3899