Smart energy firm Limejump has secured its first power purchase agreement (PPA) with the National Trust. This means that the 45kW Gelli Iago hydro scheme, located in Snowdonia, North Wales will become part of the company’s virtual power platform (VPP).
Limejump’s VPP became the first balancing mechanism unit to be aggregated across multiple gird supply points in August last year.
The Gelli Iago plant produces an average of 250MW of renewable power each year, with the revenue received from trade used to bolster the National Trust’s conservation work and future projects.
Limejump’s VPP will manage the renewable energy output of the scheme in the UK wholesale market, as well at trying to optimise the asset across the National Grid’s balancing mechanisms and other ancillary energy markets.
The technology powering Limejump’s VPP will provide the National Trust with access to energy markets, from which Limejump will aim to maximise the return on the sustainable power that is produced by the lake.
As well as this, Limejump will also manage Gelli Iago’s feed-in tariff payments on the National Trust’s behalf.
Paul Southall, from the National Trust said: “The diverse and unique nature of the places National Trust Wales look after can lend themselves to the appropriate integration of renewables.
“Hydro power systems form one element of this approach. The operating contribution delivered by renewable systems is a mechanism for ensuring our longer-term strategy of looking after special places forever for everyone can be delivered in a sustainable way.”
Limejump’s vice president of sales, Joe McDonald, added: “Welcoming a UK institution such as this National Trust site into our VPP proves that a scalable solution exists today to empower smaller distributed generators to compete against pollutant power stations and bring the energy transition closer to reality.”
The deal follows the recent news of Limejump’s PPA with DHG’s Langwell site in Scotland as the company aims to expand its hydro power portfolio.
In February of this year, Limejump become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shell, having been bought for an undisclosed sum.