Statkraft signs CPPA-PPA with Workspace and Gresham House for Devon solar farm

Statkraft, Europe’s largest renewable power generator, and a leading provider of market access and optimisation services has signed a Power Purchase Agreement with Gresham House, and a Corporate Power Purchase Agreement with Workspace simultaneously, for the Gresham House-managed Beavor Grange Solar Farm in Devon. The 20MW solar farm is large enough to power the equivalent of 6,000 homes, or two-thirds of Workspace’s total power demand.

This agreement, which runs for ten years, from February 2024, will see Workspace receive as-generated power from the solar farm in Devon and receive renewable energy guarantees of origin (REGOs) to show the source of the power. Workspace have also agreed to use Statkraft’s Firming service, which converts as-generated power into baseload, allowing the company to incorporate this into their standard supply contract.

A Firming service is where Statkraft take the as-generated power from the asset and buys power from the market when the generator is not producing power and sell surplus during high production periods, meaning a pre-agreed consistent amount of power is provided to the offtaker.

Increasingly, energy consumers are seeking to show commitment to renewable generation, to specific power plants or construction projects. Corporate PPAs allow them to take off a specific renewable projects’ physical power, or its pricing. Statkraft supports both generators and end customers with finding their partners and enable them to mitigate their respective risks.

A long-term agreement such as this provides certainty to the generator and investor confidence, therefore facilitating the building of more renewable energy infrastructure, as well as providing budget certainty to the offtaker, which can lock in a ten-year price for their power.

Acting as a market integrator. Statkraft sourced renewable generators in the UK by issuing a request for proposals (RFP) to find appropriate renewable projects looking for a long term offtaker for their asset. Whilst doing this, Statkraft also searched for corporates looking to source clean energy as part of their green ambitions and were able to link the two parties.

Andy Cooper, Statkraft’s Head of Downstream, said: “We're delighted to bring Beavor Grange and Workspace together in this long-term agreement. Both parties have secured prices for ten years and using Statkraft’s Firming service, Workspace are able to easily transfer this CPPA into a standard supply contract. This contract is one of a growing number of Firming contracts that Statkraft has signed, and we’re anticipating even higher volumes of business in this area during 2024.”

Sonal Jain, Head of Sustainability at Workspace, said: “Workspace’s partnership with Statkraft for a long-term power purchase agreement marks a significant step towards our net zero carbon commitment. The recent agreement at COP28 for countries to triple their renewable energy capacity by 2030 is supported by decisions like ours, which enable new capacity on the grid, rather than simply procuring from the existing supply. This is by far the most responsible way for businesses to secure a substantial share of clean, green electricity.”

Wayne Cranstone, Investment Director at Gresham House, said: “We are delighted to have signed another PPA with Statkraft and to have the Corporate PPA with Workspace Group plc. It is important for us to be able to secure index-linked, long-term revenue for the power produced from our solar farm, so this 10-year CPPA is ideal and we look forward to working with both parties over the coming years.”