Clean energy site in Kent will power local homes and support the regeneration of wildlife
Birds, bats, butterflies, reptiles and sheep are amongst creatures now benefitting from the development of a solar park in West Malling.
A 11.9-acre solar park in the south east of England is being hailed for a broad environmental focus, including clean energy generation for the community and enhancing habitats for local wildlife.
Officially opened earlier in July but operational since October 2023, Kings Hill Solar Park has seen 6,480 solar panels installed on a previously redundant piece of land that used to be a landfill site and then a pig farm.
As a part of the project, Kent County Council – who own the land – were required to achieve a minimum 10% biodiversity net gain of the site. This ensures that any development will result in a better-quality natural habitat than there was at this location previously.
Widely known as ‘the garden of England’, Kent is renowned for its abundance of orchards and gardens. In fact, the site upon which Kings Hill Solar Park is now sitting was once an apple orchard, used to hide ammunition and machinery for the nearby airfield during the Second World War.
From these historic roots, the transformed plot of land is now home to modern technology that is generating the electrical equivalent of around 2.8 million kWh per year, which experts say is enough to power the 750 local homes.
Did you know? The history of solar allegedly goes all the way back to the 7th century BC when humans used magnifying glass to concentrate the sun’s rays to make fire!
This project was a part of a larger number of works undertaken by Kent County Council that received more than £20 million in funding through Phase 1 of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. Our teams at Salix deliver the funding for this scheme on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
What is biodiversity and why is it important?
Biodiversity, short for biological diversity, is the natural world around us and the variety of all living things and their interactions. This includes plants, animals, insects and even microorganisms which all work together in ecosystems that maintain and support life on Earth.
A minimum 10% biodiversity net gain is a legislative requirement through the Environment Act 2021. This minimum threshold aims to ensure that developers are contributing towards nature recovery by enhancing existing or creating new habitats that allow local species to thrive.
In doing this, organisations that implement measures to support biodiversity net gain are playing their part to help adapt to climate change.
As a part of the development of the Kings Hill Solar Park, Kent County Council undertook a biodiversity calculation for the site which informed an action plan that told stakeholders how they could complete the construction while also giving back to the wildlife. Created by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, the statutory biodiversity metric calculation tool aims to ensure equity for sites being developed across the country.
Environment chiefs at the council say they are passionate about this issue and were happy to use the development of the site to lead by example and showcase their desire to improve the environment for all residents in Kent – even the wild ones.
It already looks like wildlife is flourishing at the park thanks to several measures. This includes putting in natural growth areas to bring back birds, butterflies, rabbits and birds of prey which nest in the neighbouring woodlands. Bird boxes, bat boxes, a reptile receptor area and hibernaculums – which are shelters used for various species –have also been installed to offer ready-made habitats for wildlife.
Labelled as “low maintenance” by council officials, now these elements are in place, the hope is that the animals will inhabit the area and take it back as their own.
Additionally, a herd of sheep are grazing on the site.
Watch to learn more
We visited Kings Hill Solar Park to speak with stakeholders about what the works mean for local people as well as wildlife.
Watch our video below to hear more from Kent County Council cabinet member for the environment Robert Thomas, LASER Energy net zero energy supply lead Kane Stockwell and Kent County Council project manager Danielle Huxter as they discuss the detail on what the project has achieved and their aspirations for its future.
