Plans for the UK’s largest solar farm have been given the green light for 900 acres of farmland on the Kent coast.

Spanning an area the size of 600 football pitches, the Cleve Hill Solar Park will be able to generate power for more than 91,000 homes. Energy secretary Alok Sharma gave his seal of approval for the £450 million project that will see the installation of nearly one million solar panels.

A government spokesman said: ‘The decision to grant consent for the Cleve Hill solar park was taken after careful consideration. Solar power has the capacity to play an important role in the UK ending its contribution to climate change by 2050.

‘This project will help power nearly 100,000 homes, making it a world-leading solar and storage project.’

The proposed site is near the village of Graveney, one mile north east of Faversham and three miles west of Whitstable.

The development on the Thames Estuary is also set to hold one of the world’s largest energy-storage facilities, dwarfing the lithium-ion battery built by Tesla’s Elon Musk in South Australia by three times.

Construction on the site could begin as early as next year with an aim for clean energy production by 2023.

Electricity will be sent to the nearby London Array sub-station, which already receives power from the offshore wind farm.

A development consent order was sent to the Planning Inspectorate in November 2018 before an extensive examination was held last year to iron out controversial topics with locals such as wildlife, traffic, visual impacts and battery safety.

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