Evolution Power said the site has high sunlight levels
Solar farm developers have received government approval to build on a474-acre (192 hectare) site in Kent.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero granted development consent for the Stonestreet Green Solar project near Ashford on Thursday.
Developer Evolution Power said the solar panel and battery storage scheme would “make a significant contribution” to the UK’s clean energy targets.
Kent Wildlife Trust, Weald of Kent MP Katie Lam and local parish councils were among those to raise concerns about the scheme’s impact on the rural landscape and biodiversity.
The site, north of Aldington, will be able to power up to 42,000 homes once complete, according to Evolution Power.
The firm said the site’s biodiversity would be “greatly enhanced” and soil condition improved during Stonestreet Green Solar’s lifespan.
It cited a nearby grid connection and high sunlight levels in the area among reasons the site was chosen.
The company’s director Conor McNally said it would “look forward to progressing the project in due course” following the consent order.
Evolution Power claimed in its application that construction would take one year and create the equivalent of 132 jobs.
The government is responsible for permitting the development, rather than Ashford Borough Council, as it will have a generating capacity greater than 50 megawatts.
The Planning Inspectorate said it received the application in June 2024.
“Local people, the local authority and other interested parties were able to participate in this six-month examination,” the agency said.
Over 300 representations were received.
The Planning Inspectorate said it “listened and gave full consideration to all local views and the evidence gathered” before it recommended consent was granted.
Tesla is recalling more than 63,000 Cybertrucks in the U.S. because the front lights are too bright, which may cause a distraction to other drivers and increase the risk of a collision.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that the recall includes certain Cybertrucks with a model year between 2024 and 2026. The vehicles were made between Nov. 13, 2023, and Oct. 11, 2025, with operating software versions prior to 2025.38.3.
The agency said that Tesla is not aware of any collisions, injuries, or fatalities related to the condition.
Tesla, which is run by billionaire Elon Musk, is issuing a free software update to correct the issue.
Earlier this month, federal regulators opened yet another investigation into Tesla’s self-driving feature after dozens of incidents in which the cars ran red lights or drove on the wrong side of the road, sometimes crashing into other vehicles and causing injuries.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a filing that it was looking into 58 incidents in which Teslas reportedly violated traffic safety laws while using the company’s so-called Full Self-Driving mode, leading to more than a dozen crashes and fires and nearly two dozen injuries. The new probe adds to several other open investigations into Tesla technology that could upend Musk’s plans to turn millions of his cars already on the road into completely driverless vehicles with a over-the-air update to their software.
In March U.S. safety regulators recalled virtually all Cybertrucks on the road. The NHTSA’s recall, which covered more than 46,000 Cybertrucks, warned that an exterior panel that runs along the left and right side of the windshield can detach while driving, creating a dangerous road hazard for other drivers, increasing the risk of a crash.
On Wednesday Tesla reported a fourth straight decline in quarterly profit, even as sales rose. The automaker reported third-quarter earnings plunged 37% to $1.4 billion, or 39 cents a share, from $2.2 billion, or 62 cents a share, a year earlier. That marked the fourth quarter in a row that profit dropped. And even the revenue rise, a welcome relief from a sales plunge earlier in the year due to anti-Musk boycotts, came with a significant caveat: Customers rushed to take advantage of a $7,500 federal EV tax credit before it expired on Oct. 1, possibly stealing sales from the current quarter.
Apple on Thursday lost a London lawsuit accusing the U.S. tech company of abusing its dominant position by charging app developers an unfair 30% commission through its app store.
The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ruled against Apple after a trial of the lawsuit, brought on behalf of around 20 million iPhone and iPad users in the United Kingdom and valued at up to 1.5 billion pounds ($2.01 billion), earlier this year.
Rachael Kent, the British academic who brought the case, argued Apple had made “exorbitant profits” by excluding all competition for the distribution of apps and in-app purchases.
The CAT ruled that Apple had abused its dominant position by shutting out competition in the app distribution market and by “charging excessive and unfair prices in the form of the commission which it charges developers”.
The tribunal said members of the claimant class were entitled to damages, with how damages are to be calculated to be argued at a hearing next month.
Apple – which has faced mounting pressure from regulators in the U.S. and Europe over the fees it charges developers – said it would appeal against the ruling, which it said “takes a flawed view of the thriving and competitive app economy”.
“This ruling overlooks how the App Store helps developers succeed and gives consumers a safe, trusted place to discover apps and securely make payments,” an Apple spokesperson said.
The case was the first mass lawsuit against a tech giant to come to trial under Britain’s fledgling class action-style regime, with many other cases waiting in the wings
“This isn’t good news for the organisms that form the foundation of marine ecosystems,” Shutler explained. “Plankton, fish, and bivalves like mussels and oysters are losing viable habitats. Considering that 95%…
Car companies across Europe and Japan including Volvo, Volkswagen, Honda and Nissan have warned that the battle between the Netherlands and China over control of the chipmaker Nexperia could hit production at factories.
Last week’s decision by the Dutch government to take control of Nexperia – a Chinese-owned chipmaker based in the Netherlands – has sent shock waves across the auto industry, which is already facing potential shortages of products such as magnets amid China’s latest restrictions on rare earths exports.
The Hague said at the time it was taking control of Nexperia to safeguard Europe’s supply of semiconductors and that it had invoked a cold-war era law to take effective control of the chipmaker following concerns raised by the US about the Chinese owner, Wingtech.
That decision caused an immediate rift with Beijing, which banned all exports from the chipmaker, escalating the already tense relations between China and the US before a potential meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping next week in Korea.
The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, whose members include Nissan, Toyota, Honda and Mazda, said on Thursday it had received a warning from Nexperia that chips could now be in short supply, potentially holding up manufacturing.
“The chips manufactured by the affected manufacturers are important parts used in electronic control units, etc, and we recognise that this incident will have a serious impact on the global production of our member companies,” the association said. “We hope that the countries involved will come to a prompt and practical solution.”
The German car trade association the VDA has also warned of serious consequences for an industry already battling against stiff competition from Chinese EV manufacturers.
Its president, Hildegard Müller, said: “The situation could soon lead to significant production restrictions – or even a stop in production – if the interruption of Nexperia chip deliveries cannot be resolved in the short term.”
She revealed VDA members and suppliers had received a notice on 10 October from Nexperia “describing a sequence of events that has led the company to no longer be able to fully ensure the supply of its chips to the automotive supply chain”.
Such is the urgency that the VDA had a meeting with the German economy minister last night pushing the federal government and the European Commission for “quick and pragmatic solutions”.
In Japan, a Nissan spokesperson said: “We are assessing the situation and will take appropriate measures as needed.”
skip past newsletter promotion
after newsletter promotion
Nexperia produces large volumes of semiconductors in the Netherlands, which are widely used in the automotive industry and consumer electronics. The majority are packaged in China, from where they are sold back into global industries.
The chief executive of Volvo Cars, Håkan Samuelsson, said the Swedish group, owned by China’s Geely, was not seeing any immediate problems itself, but said he expected rivals to be hit.
“I think there will be some factories shut down,” he told the Financial Times on Thursday. “You always have to be a bit smarter than the rest of the pack so you are not the one that has to shut down the factory.”
The UK industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said chip supply problems were the last thing the industry needed.
“While the sector has made efforts to diversify its supply chains, if not resolved quickly this issue has the potential to severely disrupt vehicle production and market supply.” It said.
“SMMT is actively monitoring the situation and is in contact with members and government to understand the scale of any impact and measures that might be taken to mitigate it.”
Germany’s Volkswagen warned on Wednesday that its car production could also be hit. VW, Europe’s biggest carmaker, confirmed that some Nexperia components are used in its vehicles but said production was currently unaffected. “However, given the dynamic nature of the situation, an impact on production cannot be ruled out in the short term,” added the company, whose 10 brands include Audi, Seat and Skoda.
The German economy ministry said on Wednesday it would have a call with car industry bosses.
Getty Images
