Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners has announced the close of debt financing for the Cleve Hill solar and battery storage project.
Classed as a nationally significant infrastructure project (NSIP) due to the scale of the solar plant, Cleve Hill comprises 373MW solar + 150MW battery energy storage system (BESS). Based in Kent, the power station is expected to commence operations this year.
Quinbrook says the project financing is the largest ever closed for a solar + storage development in the UK. Financing was arranged in two tranches, with term loans for the solar PV completed in August 2024 and for the BESS facility in March this year.
The finance, a £218.5 million term loan and a £20 million VAT facility, is provided by Lloyds and NatWest.
Additional revenue contracts for the development are a 15-year contract for difference (CfD), which was the largest awarded to a UK solar project in the fourth round of the government scheme, and a landmark offtake agreement with Tesco PLC.
The 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Tesco will cover 65% of the expected solar generation and a 10-year route to market agreement with oil and gas company Shell will manage the remaining 35% of the development’s solar generation.
Cleve Hill will also benefit from a 15-year capacity market agreement for the 150MW BESS onsite, bringing the total contracted and index linked revenues for the project to over £480 million.
This success follows an unsuccessful attempt by the local planning committee for Swale Borough Council to refuse consent for the addition of the battery storage element of the development.
Keith Gains, managing director and UK regional leader for Quinbrook, called Cleve Hill a “model for the development and financing of future large-scale projects” in the UK.
The landmark project was granted development consent in 2020 and was the first of its kind to be approved as an NSIP.
Lyudmil Banev, director of project finance at NatWest, added that the project is a “cornerstone transaction” for the UK market and that the retail banking group sees co-location as “a highly strategic sector”.
NatWest has arranged funding for several large-scale standalone BESS projects too, by developers including Zenobē Energy, Envision and Statera.
Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright advised Quinbrook as the sponsor and borrower for the debt financing for the Cleve Hill solar power station.
Quinbrook builds solar NSIP portfolio
In February, Quinbrook announced it had acquired the 350MW Mallard Pass solar PV project, which was consented in 2024. Mallard Pass will cover 880 hectares of land on either side of the East Coast Main Line near Essendine, partly in South Kesteven in Lincolnshire and partly in Rutland. It is to be connected to the grid via the existing Ryhall substation.
No financial details about the acquisition have been publicised, but the development is valued at £240 million.
Quinbrook says it will use its experience from the Cleve Hill project in overseeing construction of Mallard Pass, which is due to begin in 2026. Operations at Mallard Pass are expected to commence in 2028.
