Energy supplier EDF has signed two large Solar Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with Network Rail and Aukera.
Renewable investment and development specialist Aukera has agreed a long-term route-to-market PPA with EDF, which will purchase 100% of the output from Aukera’s Benthead Solar Farm. The Benthead Solar Farm, located in North Ayrshire, Scotland, combines a 31mm Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) with around 53.5 MW capacity for generating solar energy. The Benthead Solar Farm has not yet started construction; The site is expected to be taken into use in 2026 and is 100% owned by Aukera.
The PPA has been agreed for a period of nine and eleven years, depending on the commissioning date of De Bess, and marks the first time EDF has been working with Aukera. In addition to the PPA, EDF has also introduced a separate optimization agreement for the Benthead Bess; EDF will optimize the battery system via its AI-supported Powershift platform.
Aumera insured financing for the Benthead Solar Farm, in addition to four other solar projects, in April. The senior debt facility of £ 135 million was agreed with Deutsche Bank and Rabobank and will be used to finance the construction of all five solar projects. The Benthead project, in addition to the others who have been financed by this facility, has successfully concluded a 15-year contract for Difference (CFD) as part of the Round 6 Allocation (AR6).
Christopher Dalley, director of the wholesale market services at EDF, said that the deal reflects the “shared vision of a cleaner, more flexible energy system” by EDF and Aukera. He added: “The integration of long-term PPA stability with advanced battery optimization shows how EDF supports the Net Zero ambitions of the UK”.
Full steam forward for EDF and Network Rail
In the meantime, Network Rail has made considerable progress to decipher its stations and offices thanks to a new Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (CPPA) with EDF -Renewable energy sources.
The CPPA is the first agreement that the British railway has concluded. It will be redeemed Network Rails 64 GWH from Zonne Energy for the next 14 years. The solar energy will be protected by the 49.9 MW Bloy’s Grove Solar PV energy plant in Norfolk, which granted the planning stamping in August 2022 and in the beginning on construction.
The 64GWH Network Rail will decrease every year, is sufficient to provide approximately 15% of the electricity from the offices, depots and managed stations of the company with electricity (jointly known as non-traction energy). According to Network Rail, a year of solar energy was purchased through this deal the equivalent of feeding London Liverpool Street Station for nine full years. Network Rail has stated that it hopes to agree on further CPPAs to provide electricity with solar energy in the coming years.
Jeremy Westlake, Chief Financial Officer of Network Rail, said that this first in his type of contract shows how organizations such as Network Rail “can use their purchasing power to stimulate investments in clean power generation for the country”. Jo Lewington, Chief Environment and Sustainability Officer at Network Rail, agreed and called the contract “a huge step forward” in the company’s mission to handle all its stations and offices with sustainable energy.
James Schwerdt, head of Solar at EDF Renewables UK, said that the company would like to be a network rail on its sustainability trip, adding that the project demonstrates the importance of solar energy when achieving the net zero goals of the VK.
