A funded private smart grid promises lower bills for residents, fewer headaches for housebuilders and a new income stream for the council — with every home due to be connected by 2057.
What’s Happening
Otterpool Park LLP – wholly owned by Folkestone & Hythe District Council – and the master developer has signed an exclusive deal with clean-energy firm SNRG to design, build and run a town-wide “smart grid” for the new 8,500-home garden town. In plain terms, the town will generate a large share of its electricity from rooftop solar, store the surplus in shared batteries and distribute it over a private network to homes, businesses, heat pumps and EV chargers. A 12MW solar park on council-owned land is also planned, subject to the usual planning process. SNRG, backed by Antin Infrastructure Partners and Centrica, would fund, operate and maintain the system.
At full build-out, the clean-energy kit is expected to deliver roughly 34GWh a year, close to half of the town’s projected demand. The aim is affordable, low-carbon power with less reliance on the national grid.
Who Pays – And Who Benefits
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Residents: SNRG forecasts lower tariffs from day one, adding up to millions in savings over the first 30 years.
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Housebuilders: Plugging into the smart grid is expected to save around £4,000 per home on rooftop-solar provision — potentially £34m across the site — while helping meet the Government’s Future Homes Standard.
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Council & taxpayers: SNRG funds the on-site solar and batteries and contributes to the distribution network. The council says there are no upfront costs, and it expects a contracted long-term income from the energy assets.
When Will Every Home Be Connected?
Connections will be phased as the town is built:
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First switch-on: around 150–250 homes in January 2028, subject to consents.
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Full rollout: according to the council’s phasing plan, all 8,500 homes are due to be on the smart grid by 2057, with the local system supplying just under half the town’s annual electricity needs at completion.
(For context, Otterpool Park is a multi-decade project, with delivery commonly described over a ~30-year horizon.)
The Case For The Scheme
SNRG frames Otterpool as a practical route to decarbonising new housing at scale, giving residents direct access to locally generated power and giving developers a way around costly grid-connection delays that are stalling projects nationwide. The council sees the package as a credible pathway to net-zero operation for the town, with the proposed solar park located on council land and designed to integrate with the private smart grid.
The Questions Being Asked
Local scrutiny has focused on who owns SNRG and the company’s track record with solar farms:
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Ownership and tax fairness: Shepway Vox reports that SNRG’s majority shareholder is Antin Infrastructure Services Luxembourg II S.à r.l. and questions whether this sits comfortably with the council’s public positioning as a Fair Tax organisation. The blog highlights typical “profit-shifting” structures used by multinational groups and argues profits from the solar park could flow offshore. The council’s Cabinet approved moving forward with SNRG, pending a legal review of the Options Agreement and Heads of Terms, and granted delegated authority to sign once the review is complete.
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Experience with solar farms: The same report says SNRG has no operational experience of UK solar farms, noting instead planning permissions for rooftop schemes and experience fitting solar to completed housing developments. Critics ask why this was not discussed in detail at Cabinet.
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Procurement and risk: A follow-up post ahead of the Cabinet meeting states that consultancy Stantec (based at Connect 38) undertook soft-market testing for the council and supported appointing SNRG as preferred investor, developer and operator of Phase 1 of the solar park. Under the model described, SNRG would design, build, fund, own and operate the solar park and its connection to the smart grid, with the council carrying no planning, build or operating cost or risk; SNRG would also handle land management under a lease.
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Money flows and timing: Shepway Vox also reports an expected £24.8m council/OPLLP income over 30 years (rent, dividends and per-home smart-grid connection fees), a plan to approve the legal documents in March 2025, and a planning application in March/April 2025. The first smart-grid homes going live in January 2028 aligns with this timeline.
What Still Needs Approval
The proposed 12MW solar park between Lympne and Court at Street requires planning consent (in orange below). Tariffs and bill savings will depend on detailed designs, market conditions and regulation. The council has confirmed a legal review of the contract documents before signing. In short: the concept is clear, many practical details are still to be pinned down.
The Bigger Picture
Set between Lympne, Westenhanger, Sellindge and Newigreen, near HS1, Otterpool Park is planned as a next-generation garden town with schools, health facilities, jobs space and extensive green areas. If delivered as set out, its smart grid would be among the UK’s largest real-world deployments of renewables-plus-storage in a new community — a model other large schemes are likely to study closely.
Bottom line: a town-scale private smart grid could cut bills, de-risk infrastructure for housebuilders and move a major new settlement towards net zero. Supporters see a blueprint; critics want tougher scrutiny of ownership, tax and delivery experience. Both sides agree on one thing: this is a high-stakes decision that will shape how Otterpool Park is powered — from the first connections in 2028 to full coverage by 2057.
The Shepway Vox Team
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