Cleve Hill Solar Park is the UK's largest solar power station, located on the Graveney marshes near Faversham in Kent.
Cleve Hill Solar, Kent
Cleve Hill Solar Park is the UK's largest solar power station, located on the Graveney marshes near Faversham in Kent.
Energy - The South, England
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Project Overview
Cleve Hill Solar Park aims to deliver a new facility supporting 350MW of generation, combined with 150MW of battery storage. The area is approximately 360 hectares of farmed marsh land benefiting from flood defences.
Curtins were appointed to provide structural and civil engineering design, environmental reporting and extensive transport planning input. The drainage and flood risk solution had to overcome complex constraints such as ensuring the batteries would not be affected by a failure of the flood defence.
Our civil engineering teams developed a design for a new flood defence bund to protect the infrastructure whilst ensuring a suitable access for HGV’s and other large vehicles.
We also prepared highway designs for access and maintenance ensuring suitable crossings of the existing watercourses affected by the road routes.
The drainage strategy included for sustainable measures such as porous hard landscaping materials and green/blue infrastructure for pollution management. Calculations ensured any risk areas were suitably mitigated to a low hazard under the CIRIA guidance.
Site specific drainage details were included within the design providing evidence of the proposed SuDS features capabilities in terms of conveyance, treatment and storage.
Our use of modelling software for both the hydraulics and spatial earthwork assessments ensured coordination between the various elements.
The Challenge
The site sits on marshland and, while protected by existing flood defences, there was still a critical concern of protecting battery storeage from flood risk. Batteries are sensitive and highly vulnerable to water damage, so the design needed to prevent even a worst-case scenario.
Our Solution
Curtins engineered a new flood defence bund, essentially a protective earth barrier around the battery infrastructure. It was designed to
Withstand overtopping or breach scenarios
Maintain access for heavy vehicles like HGVs
Integrate with site drainage and landscape features
This bund offered an extra layer of safety, ensuring uninterrupted operation even if primary defences failed.
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