RWE has revealed it has signed its first solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) in the UK.
The agreement will see the company provide clean power to the UK subsidiary of global nutrition giant Kerry Group for a period of more than 10 years.
It is structured as two separate financial pay-as-produced PPAs and will commit capacity from RWE’s projects Cotmoor, located in Nottinghamshire, and Copse Lodge in Northamptonshire.
Each of these solar projects has a potential installed capacity of 49.9 megawatts (MWac).
Cotmoor has already achieved Financial Investment Decision (FID), with construction beginning earlier this year. Copse Lodge meanwhile is expected to follow in 2025.
Olaf Lubenow, head of commodity solutions UK, north & south Europe of RWE Supply & Trading, said: “Solar power is one of the quickest and easiest renewable technologies to deploy, and can quickly make a significant contribution to the UK’s energy system.
“Through the buildout and operation of our UK portfolio of over 4.4GW of solar projects, our clean electricity can help even more businesses like Kerry Group to decarbonise for the future by sourcing clean green electricity for years to come.
“We’re delighted to be able to support the transition of businesses away from fossil fuel-sourced electricity and to be making a meaningful contribution to the UK’s net zero ambitions.”
Juan Aguriano, global head of sustainability for Kerry, said: “Kerry is committed to the fight against climate change. We intend to reduce our combined Scope 1 & 2 carbon emissions by 55% by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050. Power purchase agreements represent a key pillar of Kerry’s renewable energy strategy to deliver on these commitments.
“The agreements with RWE are Kerry’s first PPAs in the UK and represent approximately 50% of Kerry’s electricity volume used in the country. We are proud to support the UK’s transition to low-carbon electricity and look forward to supporting more projects like these in the future in Europe and around the world.”
RWE began construction of seven solar farms in the UK earlier this year.
The new sites will have a combined installed capacity of 330MW of solar power with 45MW of co-located battery storage (BESS) being installed at two of the sites.
The projects are the first to be constructed by RWE following its acquisition of JBM Solar, one of the UK’s largest independent solar and co-located battery developers.