Innova has announced the signing of a 15-year corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) for the 27.8 MW Elms Farm solar project, owned by ISG Renewables, a joint venture of Innova Renewables and Schroders Greencoat.
All energy generated by the solar power plant, which is currently under construction and expected to be powered later this year, will be supplied to Anglian Water. Anglian Water aims to source half of its total energy consumption from renewable sources and achieve carbon neutral status by 2030.
Andy Peyman, head of energy sales at Innova, said the CPPA was vital to the progress of the site. ISG Renewables acquired the Elms Farm solar project in May this year as part of its ambition to finance, build and operate 5GW of renewable energy capacity within the next three to five years.
The energy balancing and shaping services will be carried out by EDF, which will provide a reliable source of renewable energy to the utility through its supplier SSE. Director of PPA at EDF, Tom Abbott, said: “It’s great to be part of helping to build new renewable energy sites, with agreements like this playing a crucial role in making them possible and helping to ensure that Greater Britain reaches net zero emissions.”
Innova’s solar portfolio is growing
On October 22, Innova announced that the switch-on of its Stokeford Solar Park in Dorset would take place on July 31.
The 28.5 MWp solar power plant, located near Bournemouth, is the third site in Innova’s current portfolio to be commissioned. It will share a connection to the SSE-operated local electricity grid with the onshore Alaska wind farm developed by Infinergy.
The joint connection “represented a number of unique technical and commercial complexities,” said Tom Cooledge, Innova’s investment director. According to the Alaska Wind Farm website, the grid connection took longer than expected.
Innova’s 10 MWp Carn Nicholas solar power plant in Wales, the first acquisition by ISG Renewables, came online in 2023, followed in March this year by the 22.6 MWp Bicker Fen solar farm.
Bicker Fen was initially developed by Innova and received a building permit in May 2022. Once completed, the solar development was handed over to Innova’s internal asset management team.
Recently, Innova announced that it had been granted planning permission to expand its solar and energy storage project, Blythe Solar Farm, with an additional solar array increasing the development’s solar capacity by 16.6 MW, bringing the total approved capacity to 44.3 MWp of solar energy will be added, in addition to a 30MW battery energy storage system (BESS). Rob Parish, senior project manager at Innova, said the plan is “on track” for ratification in 2027.
