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ScottishPower makes major UK solar play with acquisitions

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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Iberdrola-owned ScottishPower has signed two deals to acquire 17 solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in the UK, with a combined capacity of more than 800 MW. The contracts have been concluded separately with Elgin Energy, which owns 12 projects, and Lightsource BP, which controls the rest.

Both companies are experienced developers with a long track record in renewable energy.

The projects, across England, Scotland and Wales, are in advanced stages of development and will be operational by 2025 with a total investment of approximately £500 million (around €600 million). This portfolio of solar sites will add enough clean energy to power over 220,000 homes.

ScottishPower claims it is now at the forefront of the UK’s solar industry, with its market share rising from 2% to 9%, confirming the company’s commitment to growing the renewables market across the UK, where it is the only 100% green integrated utility. The deals will also contribute towards reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland in 2045 and in the United Kingdom by 2050.

Lindsay McQuade, CEO of ScottishPower Renewables, said: “Moving into 2022, we are continuing to push forward our plans at ScottishPower to support the transition to Net Zero.  This boost to our solar generation pipeline complements our existing growth plans for wind and storage.

“With plans to invest close to £4 billion by 2025, doubling the volume of renewable electricity we produce, we are taking action every day to deliver on our commitment to deploy more renewables – at scale and at speed – to electrify how we live, work and travel. This addition to our portfolio will help accelerate that journey and play an important role in tackling the climate emergency.”

As of September 2021, Iberdrola has almost 3GW of installed PV worldwide, an increase of 89% compared to 2019. Of this capacity, 2,028MW are in Spain, 642MW in Mexico, 191MW in the US, 4MW in the UK and 31 MW in other countries. It also has 31 GW of solar projects under development in Spain, US, Mexico, UK, Portugal and Italy. The company’s investment plan for 2020-2025 sets to double its current PV capacity to 6GW by the end of 2022, and to have 14 GW installed by 2025.

Transition to renewables ‘to fuel post-COVID recovery’

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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Investment in renewable energy expansion will be an important cog in the wheel towards the post-COVID-19 economic recovery journey.

Expanding the renewables will not only help countries deliver stronger climate action under the Paris Agreement, but also fuel the economic activities across the value chain forming a powerful recovery mechanism to recuperate from the COVID-19 crisis.

That’s according to research from GlobalData, which says due to technological advancements, economies of scale and competitive auctions, the Levelized Cost Of Electricity (LCOE) for renewables has seen steep decline. For example, the LCOE of solar PV had witnessed a drop of 86% to reach 0.05USD/kWh in 2019 when compared with 2010. Likewise, for onshore wind the drop was 50.0% to 0.05USD/kWh.  

The declining LCOE has brought the renewable at par with fossils and in some countries even cheaper. This trend of cost competitiveness and innovation is likely to continue and could attract countries and investors to increase their renewable appetite. For instance, 2019 saw the highest solar power capacity additions and also the highest investment in the offshore wind segment. 

However, the planned investments in this sector until 2030 is lesser than the investments made in the last decade. The COVID-19 pandemic recovery stimulus provides an excellent window of opportunity for governments to channelize their investments in the renewables to offset the silos in the future investment schedule. These were earlier unable to reach the desired  2030 installations target decarbonizing the economy and putting forward a strong step towards climate sustainability. 

Somik Das, Senior Power Analyst at GlobalData, said: “ During the COVID-19 pandemic, renewable energy took the center stage. With declining electricity demand, utilities focussed on generating electricity from cost-effective renewable sources. By the end of 2030, the cumulative renewable installed capacity is estimated to be 3,600GW, about 1,900GW more than that of 2020, which is substantially lower than the required built-up of about 2,800-3,000GW for limiting the global temperature rise by 2c.  

“Incorporating higher investments in renewable energy might provide an opportunity to increase the investments and make up for the shortfall in the required installed power capacity by 2030. 

“Hence, increased investments in renewable energy in the recovery packages would benefit greatly and usher in a multitude of economic benefits. Not only it will provide a better opportunity in addressing climate change goals and global warming issues but also creates new jobs and stimulate economic activities.”  

Do you specialise in Solar PV? We want to hear from you!

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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Each month on Energy Management Briefing we’re shining the spotlight on a different part of the market – and in September we’ll be focussing on Solar PV solutions.

It’s all part of our ‘Recommended’ editorial feature, designed to help energy management buyers find the best products and services available today.

So, if you’re a supplier of Solar PV solutions and would like to be included as part of this exciting new shop window, we’d love to hear from you – for more info, contact Lisa Rose on 01992 374077 / l.rose@forumevents.co.uk.

Here are the areas we’ll be covering in 2019, month by month:

September – Solar PV
October – Lighting
November – HVAC
December – Water Strategy

For more information on any of the above, contact Lisa Rose on 01992 374077 / l.rose@forumevents.co.uk.

Image by Jukka Niittymaa from Pixabay

‘Energy-positive’ classrooms arrive in Swansea

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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Swansea University has opened the first energy-positive classroom, generating more than one and a half times the energy that it consumed in its first year.

The Active Classroom, named Project of the Year by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RCIS) Wales, took eight months to build and uses a mix of technologies to create as much energy output as possible.

Now proven, it’s hoped that the technique can be set for a wider roll-out.

The steel roofs have integrated photovoltaic (solar) cells connected to batteries with enough capacity to provide several days of power. The building also features steel cladding to capture solar heat energy, as well as an electrically heated floor coating.

Discussing the project, Professor David Worsley, Swansea University, said: “The idea that a building has to consume power to survive is a bit 20th century. We can generate up to 50% more power from a building than it uses.

“If we make buildings that generate more power than they use, over time, the built environment can play its part in decarbonisation.”

The Active Classroom was designed and built by the SPECIFIC Innovation and Knowledge Centre at Swansea University. Another pioneering initiative by the university, Project SUNRISE, aims to put solar energy and new technologies into 5 villages in India, allowing them to become energy self-sufficient, through a £7 million consortium of UK and Indian universities. 

SPECIFIC was set up in 2011 with a five-year £20 million commitment from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Innovate UK and the Welsh Government, along with investment from Swansea University and industrial partners.

The second phase of the project began in April 2016 with £26 million funding from EPSRC, Innovate UK and the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government.

Following the success of the Active Classroom as a demonstrator, Innovate UK supported the construction of SPECIFIC’s Active Office, opened in June 2018, which accommodates 30 members of staff and can share solar energy with the neighbouring Active Classroom.

Facebook inks virtual power purchase agreement for renewables

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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Digital Realty has signed a virtual power purchase agreement on behalf of Facebook to support the social media giant’s renewable energy goals at data centre facilities.

Under the agreement, Digital Realty has executed a long-term renewable power purchase contract to secure approximately 80 megawatts of solar power capacity for Facebook.

Digital Realty contracted with SunEnergy1, which has developed and will own and operate the solar project, to be located within Virginia Electric and Power Company territory in North Carolina.

Under the terms of the agreement, all renewable energy certificates and environmental claims will be delivered to Facebook.

The partners say the agreement marks the first back-to-back utility-scale renewable energy transaction between a data centre provider landlord utilising a virtual power purchase agreement to underpin the renewable energy supply dedicated to a customer.

Digital Realty says it worked in partnership with Facebook to structure the transaction to align with Facebook’s quality standards for new renewable energy projects within the same power grid as the data centre load.

“Our scale and position as a leader in data center sustainability enabled us to execute this first of its kind agreement in support of Facebook’s sustainability goals,” said Digital Realty Chief Executive Officer A. William Stein. “Many of our customers have specific renewable energy requirements, and we work diligently to provide cost-competitive solutions tailored to their needs. We were able to take Facebook’s quality standards and timeline into consideration and deliver this solution in a competitive marketplace and at a competitive price. We are very pleased to be part of the solution enabling Facebook to achieve its renewable energy goals.”

“Facebook is committed to supporting all of its operations with 100% renewable energy and to improving overall access to renewable markets,” said Bobby Hollis, Director of Global Energy and Site Selection at Facebook. “We are thrilled Digital Realty has entered into this agreement and hope this will serve as a model for other colocation customers seeking to support their operations with high-quality, renewable energy projects.”

To-date, Digital Realty has contracted for approximately 745,000 megawatt-hours of renewable generation annually through long-term power purchase agreements, avoiding approximately 525,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.