Kent’s All-Electric Town to Power More Than Just Itself in Landmark Grid Deal

Image Credit: SNRG

A new town in Kent is setting out to redefine what sustainable living truly means. Otterpool Park, a garden town currently in development, will eventually be home to 8,500 households. What sets it apart is not just its scale, but its ambition. Every home will run entirely on electricity, powered by rooftop solar panels and battery systems designed to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The town could end up doing more than just powering itself. It might also help support the rest of the country’s electricity needs.

Developers have partnered with energy infrastructure company SNRG to design and operate an intelligent, highly efficient energy grid. This grid will not only support the day-to-day electricity needs of the town's future residents, but also provide a reliable source of power for the town's infrastructure. Still, it will also have the capacity to act as a virtual power plant, contributing clean energy back into the national system when demand spikes elsewhere.

Residents moving into Otterpool Park starting from 2027 will find their homes equipped with electric hobs, renewable-powered heating systems, chargers for electric vehicles, and smart energy management tools. The homes will be fossil-fuel-free from the ground up. To further extend the clean energy benefits, developers plan to construct a large solar farm on nearby council-owned land. This installation is expected to meet around half of the town’s overall electricity needs.

Altogether, Otterpool Park will generate roughly 34 megawatts of renewable power. To store and distribute this energy effectively, a grid-scale battery will be installed for every 300 homes. According to SNRG, this setup will allow residents to make meaningful savings on their electricity bills from the moment they move in.

There is another upside to this localised clean energy approach. It means the developers can avoid the costly and time-consuming process of reinforcing the national electricity grid, which is often required for significant new housing developments. Property consultancy Knight Frank estimates that approximately one-third of projects face delays due to these infrastructure bottlenecks. By generating and storing most of its power on site, Otterpool Park is avoiding one of the most common setbacks in the housing sector.

That said, the town will still be connected to the broader National Grid. During periods of low solar production, particularly in the winter, it will draw electricity from the national system. But it will also be ready to give back. When other parts of the grid are under pressure and require additional power, Otterpool Park will be able to supply electricity to help meet demand and maintain grid stability.

Dan Nicholls, Chief Product Officer at SNRG, explained how the smart microgrid will coordinate every element of the town’s energy system. From solar panels to household batteries, and from car chargers to heating systems, each component will work together to maximise the use of locally produced clean power and reduce the cost of drawing energy from external sources.

In one example, Nicholls noted that pausing thousands of electric car chargers for just a few seconds could free up enough energy to help balance a sudden shortfall in another part of the country. It is this kind of fast, decentralised energy management that Otterpool Park hopes to lead, offering a blueprint for how future towns might function in an energy-constrained world.

“No one single [electric vehicle] charger could create this impact – but reducing the charge for a few seconds on every charger could create an aggregated benefit. A small contribution from each charger creates a big saving for the grid,” he said.

SNRG is pursuing other similar projects across the country, but Otterpool is the most advanced, Nicholls added.

Jim Martin, the leader of Folkestone and Hythe district council, described the plans as “a perfect example of what can be delivered using renewable energy and reducing carbon emissions”.

He added: “While the solar park is subject to a planning application, which will of course enable the public to give their views and allow further scrutiny by councillors, the prospect of generating green power on land already owned by the council and at no cost to local taxpayers is very attractive.”