State-owned EDF Energy has signed a seven year power purchase agreement (PPA) with developer Brockwell Energy’s North Kyle project on a former coalfield in Scotland’s southwest.
Brockwell Energy secured a Contract for Difference (CfD) for North Kyle, near Ayr, in the government’s Allocation Round 4 last year. Now being manufactured for the site, the former Chalmerston coal complex, the project’s 49 turbines will be collectively rated at 220.5MW.
Once commissioned in early 2025, they should yield 630GWh annually. The parties’ PPA commits EDF to take all its output.
North Kyle is Brockwell Energy’s largest venture in onshore wind. The Edinburgh-based firm was set up in 2017 to raise investment capital to develop an £800 million portfolio of energy projects, predominantly in Scotland, on and around former coal mining sites.
An important consideration in shaping the North Kyle venture was to provide funding to the restore the former mining site, improving public access and providing what Brockwell describes as a “ground-breaking community benefit programme”.
Brockwell’s commercial manager David Surtees commented: “EDF has been a great counterparty to deal with.
“We set ourselves tight deadlines for closing the project and the EDF team was supportive and responsive throughout the process. EDF’s deep expertise in structuring PPA’s for renewable projects helped us to quickly get an optimal solution that addressed the needs of equity and debt providers.”
EDF UK cites Cornwall Insight as authority for its claim to be not only Britain’s biggest generator of zero carbon electricity but, via its PPA contracts, the biggest offtaker of renewable power among Britain’s energy suppliers.
The company says its renewables capacity already generating exceeds 1GW, with another 4GW in construction or development. EDF’s biggest marine development in the UK is the 450MW Neart na Gaoithe project off the Fife coast, due to begin generating next year.
Of the North Kyle venture, EDF’s head of PPAs Tom Abbott commented: “It’s great to be definitively helping Britain achieve Net Zero through this agreement, which will bring new renewables onto our grid via this new farm in Scotland”.
