As Britain’s greenest university, Manchester is top-ranked in the UK and third in the world for its benchmarks achieved against the independent 2024 QS World University Sustainability Rankings.   All its degree programmes are certified against the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

“She’s electric. Can I be electric, too?”

Now all its buildings and institutes – including part of the world-ranking Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, the Alliance Business School, the John Rylands Library and the Schuster physics labs where the Nobel-prize winning material graphene was developed by UK-citizens Professors Andre Geim & Kostya Novoselov in 2004 – will from autumn 2025 be powered by clean electricity made from Essex’s light.

Famously rainy Manchester’s biggest university has signed a deal with PV park developers Environmena, to buy four-fifths of the 58GWh output of the developers’ approved solar farm at Medebridge, close to South Ockendon and the Thames.

Expected to generate first late next year, the Medebridge project’s 104,000 solar panels will cover 175 acres of low-grade agricultural land – around 70 football pitches’ worth – next to a landfill site. At just over 46GWh every year, the Essex farm’s low carbon current will meet 65 per cent of the University’s power needs.

Enviromena says Medebridge will deliver greater biodiversity to Essex’s estuary edgelands. Preserved native grasses and wildflower meadows will surround the panels’ racks, encouraging nesting sites & rearing of wildlife, including bugs at the bottom of food chains.

“All I need is the air that I breathe”

Off-taking most of the farm’s clean power for a committed decade will speed Manchester University on its journey to intended carbon neutrality by 2038.  In 2022 the uni voted to terminate its investments in coal, oil and gas, and to reduce the carbon intensity of its other endowments by 37%.

Professor of climate and energy policy Carly McLachlan, the university’s academic lead for carbon, observed: “The important thing for us in developing this relationship (with Enviromena) was that our commitment would add new renewable energy capacity to the UK electricity system. Through our long-term purchasing commitment, we have played a key role in bringing this development forward – maximising the positive impact of our purchasing power.”

Baggy, not boggy. Still “mad for it…”

Finance manager Lee Barlow, the university’s lead on the Essex-sourced deal, added: “After nearly three years of rigorous procurement negotiations, we are proud to announce this landmark agreement, which (delivers) price certainty and supply stability.

“Securing this 10-year corporate PPA despite such adversity is a huge accomplishment and holds special significance as we celebrate the University’s bicentennial year.”

Enviromena’s chief commercial officer Lee Adams responded: “This significant partnership with the University of Manchester demonstrates the shared commitment of an influential, large-scale organisation, which, at the time it celebrates its 200-year anniversary, is taking steps towards reducing its carbon footprint through the technologies of tomorrow”

Founded in Britain by Sami Khoreibi in 2007, Enviromena is privately owned by investors Arjun Infrastructure Partners.

The developer currently manages over 300MW of renewables projects, including in the UAE, Egypt & Jordan. In the UK and Italy alone it is bringing forward elements in a 3GW-plus pipeline of green energy projects.

Straight outta Purfleet, twisting my melons

For investors Arjun Infrastructure, head of ESG Rhyadd Keaney-Watkins commented: “For Arjun and our investors, this deal between Manchester University and Enviromena is an exciting example of the positive real-world outcomes which infrastructure can deliver.

“With a fivefold increase in the UK’s solar generation capacity needed by 2035, and with more and more institutions following Manchester University’s leadership in decarbonising operations, there is an important role for developers such as Enviromena to deliver the ‘green electrons’ needed as part of net zero and the energy transition.”

Interest declared: the author was educated in south Essex and in Manchester

The post “Soundddddd, our kid!” Manchester Uni sorts itself for PV & watts…from Essex appeared first on theenergyst.com.

Sited close to the Thames near Orsett, Medebridge is consented and ready to build.   Construction will begin this summer, with completion expected in the summer of 2025.

Once operational it will generate 71,000MWh every year, enough to power over 26,000 homes and avoid 13,500 tonnes of CO₂ emissions.

The purchase comes part of Enviromena’s strategy to deliver 500MW of operational solar projects. It bought the project from sustainable infrastructure investors NTR plc

The buy was supported by last year’s fund raise of £65m undertaken with investors Arjun Infrastructure Partners.

The plot comes with a grid connection, and land agreements all in place to facilitate the build.

Enviromena CEO Chris Marsh said: “The acquisition of Medebridge represents a significant milestone, as we continue to drive forward with our plans to deliver 500MW of operational solar projects.

“Supported by Arjun’s investment, we have worked collaboratively with NTR throughout the transaction and we are delighted to announce its completion.”

Julian Skinner, Arjun Infrastructure Partners’ head of asset management said: “We are delighted to see the hard work put in by the Enviromena team come to fruition.

“Arjun looks forward to continuing to support Enviromena’s growth, which will make a major contribution to the decarbonisation of the UK energy market.”

The post Enviromena swoops for 70MWp Medebridge solar project appeared first on theenergyst.com.

Due to become operational this year, the grid-connected park is close to London’s M25 motorway.  It was co-developed and financed by IB Vogt and DIF Infrastructure VII.  Its combined capacity of 116MW will make Warley one of the UK’s largest co-located sites.

The deal represents one of the UK’s largest combined hybrid offtake and optimisation agreements. Over its ten year duration, EdF will manage the co-located assets in real time, making efficient use of the shared grid connection.

EdF’s roster of more than 1GW of renewable assets already generating, plus 5GW in construction or development, puts it at the head of UK low carbon generators. It is also the nation’s biggest buyer of renewable power from independent generators.

EdF’s commercial director for wholesale market service Stuart Fenner said: “We are very pleased that we have been chosen to deliver trading, optimisation and offtake services for one of the UK’s largest co-located solar and battery sites. This unique deal exemplifies the innovation needed to address our energy challenges, which will help to secure green energy for the future and deliver on our commitment to help Britain achieve net zero.”

The post EDF plugs in to market-leading PV & battery deal appeared first on theenergyst.com.

Grant-givers at Scottish Enterprise have released £9 million of tax-payers’ funds to re-purpose Hunterston, the former nuclear plant on the Ayrshire coast, as a factory making high-voltage cable for the £1.4 billion marine section of the Xlinks venture.  At full operation later this decade, a re-purposed Hunterston could employ as many as 900 permanent, highly skilled workers.

Essex-based developers Xlinks, headed by McKinsey alumnus Simon Morrish and ex-Tesco’s boss Dave Lewis, could not find a global supplier capable of competitively supplying the four cables needed for the £18 billion mega-project.

In the face of international political uncertainties confronting Xlinks, they decided to build their own factory on Scotland’s coast.

XLCC, the sister company set up by Xlinks to build the HVDC cable at Hunterston, budgets at £1.4 billion the costs of converting its activities from atom-splitting to twisting miles of metal thread.

Xlinks requires four HVDC connections each 3,800 kilometres long, the world’s longest. They will link solar and wind farms in southern Morocco via the Bay of Biscay to landfall at Alverdiscott, north Devon, and a reserved input to the National Grid.

Hunterston B ceased nuclear generation in January 2022, after 46 years.  Its Magnox sister, Hunterston A, went dark in 1990.

Owners EdF have scheduled defueling of Hunterston B to start in 2025, a year before the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s Magnox arm is due to take formal control of the site.

Confirmed today, Scottish Enterprise’s handout has followed North Ayrshire planners’ approval of the cable-making facility.

Recipient XLCC’s business case for its grant application rests on industry projections that worldwide demand for new subsea power transmission will outstrip supply by two-and-a-half  times as soon as 2030.

Some international cable makers are reported to have nine years’ worth of work already on order, thus presenting a critical bottleneck for long-distance transmission of clean power varieties from their sunniest or windiest spots of origin, to populated centres of highest demand.

Ian Douglas, boss of the cable maker welcomed Scottish Enterprise’s decision. ”As XLCC  continues to work towards building a greener future for Scotland and the wider UK’, said Douglas, ‘investing in and mobilising the power of local communities is vital.

”Green energy is the future, and we want to empower Scotland to be part of the transition.”

In quest of maximum benefits for the nation and its south-west, he pledged XLCC will work closely with Team Scotland and its partners including Scottish Enterprise, North Ayrshire Council, Skills Development Scotland and local schools and training institutions.

Cabled, not wireless

Adrian Gillespie, CEO of Scottish Enterprise, said: “XLCC’s plans for Hunterston have the potential to be transformational for the regional economy and an extremely important addition to Scotland’s offshore renewables capability. Together with our Team Scotland partners, we’re working closely with the company as it seeks to address the enormous and growing demand for HVDC cables both in Scotland and internationally.”

From Edinburgh’s devolved government, wellbeing and economy secretary Neil Gray MSP added: “This milestone £1.4 billion project is a welcome vote of confidence in Scotland’s renewable energy revolution. That is why Scottish Enterprise is supporting it with £9 million to attract wider private sector investment“.

North Ayrshire Council’s leader Cllr Marie Burns echoed them: “This is one of the largest ever investments in Scotland and the significance of this development cannot be overstated. It is incredibly exciting for the North Coast, North Ayrshire and beyond.

The post Holyrood bets £9m on Morocco power line, primes 900 Hunterston jobs appeared first on theenergyst.com.

The 59MW-rated facility newly built in Ockendon – a patch of half-rural, half-industrial Essex that even county natives look down upon – commands an output nominally equivalent to 15,000 homes’ consumption in a year.

Frames at the Ockendon establishment now support 107,000 PV modules, each rated at either 540Wp or 545Wp, thanks to their bi-facial ability to convert light reflected up from the verdant Essex sod.

Gloucestershire-based technology provider REG Power Management came up with the kit. The Essex order includes inverters changing the panels‘ DC output into AC, ready for being stepped up to a grid-ready 132 kV by transformers at the Warley substation, 2.6 miles north.

Recycling leviathan Veolia already generates 800GWh of renewable electricity – a baseload nominally meeting 240,000 homes’ use – from its collection of UK assets in solar, biomass, biogas, and Energy Recovery facilities (ERF).  Ockendon is its third British ground-mounted solar farm, after Ling Hall, Warwickshire, and Netley in Hampshire.

More roof-mounted modules commissioned by Veolia power UK hospitals, offices, water treatment works and recycling centres.  All the output qualifies as low carbon under the Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) regime.

Hailing Veolia’s Ockendon achievement, Donald Macphail, its chief operating officer for treatment, said “This development is a further step towards achieving a Net Zero carbon future for the UK, and a demonstration of how we can transform this restored landfill to give it a new life.

“This (Ockendon) project also has greater significance, “ Macphail explained, ”as the solar arrays have minimal ground level impact, so the wildlife that has repopulated the restored land can continue to coexist with the technology”.

Matt Partridge, development director at REG Power Management added: “We’re delighted to have worked with Veolia to help deliver another significant clean energy development”.

Veolia Group aspires from its Paris headquarters – a city rarely confused with the Essex edgelands  – to become what it calls the “benchmark company for ecological transformation”.  With 220,000 employees and operations on five continents covering recycling, waste disposal  & water treatment, last year the group generated 44TWh of energy internationally.

The post “Oy, oy, Reg!” It’s always sunny in south Essex, hopes Veolia appeared first on theenergyst.com.

Due to be commissioned in 2025, EDF’s 50MWp battery-enabled Longfield venture will cover 380 acres of supposed ‘intensive arable’ land near Hatfield Peveril, Essex, close to the A12 north-east of Chelmsford.  It will, according to the company’s press release, “generate around 350MW from solar energy”.

Consent was granted by energy secretary Grant Shapps, on the recommendation of the National Planning Inspectorate.

Now that co-developers Padero Solar’s 18 months of talks with stakeholders are completed, EDF Renewables projects Longfield’s first output only for 2028.

Head of solar Ben Fawcett said: “The feedback we received from residents, local authorities & environmental groups in our consultation has helped shape our plans. We will continue to work closely with them to make sure we minimise the impact of construction and maximise the huge opportunities for the area”.

EDF’s success in Essex prompts fresh questions over national planning rules & grid connections, at present delayed by as much as a decade.  National Grid last week announced a consultation on its plans to weed out redundant applications among the record 280GW on its waiting list.

50MW output is the planning threshold, above which giant solar farms such as Hive & Wirsol’s 350MW Cleeve Hill venture in Kent require Whitehall approval as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project.

Giant schemes in clean generation currently awaiting national Planning Authority say-so include EDF Renewables’ 100 MW wind, solar & storage plan near Port Talbot, and Peel Rubico’s 150MW hybrid submission for Frodsham, next to Cheshire’s Ellesmere Port industrial complex.

Meanwhile Coventry City Council is seeking planning consent for a 33MW PV park on 103 grazed acres which it owns near the M6.

The city needs the park’s projected maximum 30 MWh daily output to help electrify its bus fleet before 2026, as well as feeding power to Britain’s second-only municipal Energy Superhub.  The latter will include a vertical take-off apron for electric air taxis.

Seven months of construction will be needed, according to Councillor Jim O’Boyle, pictured, the council’s cabinet lead for climate change.

He added: “The proposed solar farm …goes hand in hand with our other green projects including plans for Coventry Very Light Rail, improved cycling infrastructure, and our drive to install more on-street charge points.

“We will be the UK’s first all-electric bus city too, of course.”

The post Essex goals, Warwickshire blues: EDF secures UK solar first, as Coventry opts for blue skies appeared first on theenergyst.com.

With over 25 years’ experience in global energy markets, InterGen provides around 5% of UK generation capacity. Its 2.8 GW here is divided between three CCGT plants and one open cycle GT facility.

Completing its UK assets is the 450MW Gateway Energy Centre project at Corringham on the Thames Estuary, expected to become Europe’s largest storage system. Last February the Essex plant – pictured – secured a 15 year capacity market (CM) deal, due to begin operations in 2025.

A pipeline of other large-scale energy storage ventures is included in the sale.

Under the new structure, Creditas Group takes title to all InterGen’s UK sites plus its Edinburgh headquarters.

The  acquiror has been active in energy since 2013. Its UCED division is the Czech Republic’s fourth largest distributor. Other investments include firms producing, distributing and trading power, gas and heat.

Entrepreneur Pavel Hubáček is the conglomerate’s ultimate owner.

InterGen CEO Jim Lightfoot said: “As we look to an exciting new future as member of Creditas Group, we remain committed to our core mission to supply energy to millions of homes across the UK. This sale will allow us to move forward with renewed certainty.”

The new owner’s CEO Jiří Hrouda responded:  “We are delighted to expand our operations outside the Czech Republic and enter the UK market at this crucial time.

“In addition to the huge growth potential, it is also an opportunity for us to apply our know-how on a larger scale, to exploit synergy effects from different markets while simultaneously diversifying our investments outside the EU.”

Greenhill & Co advised InterGen on the sale, aided by lawyers Herbert Smith Freehills. Ernst & Young ran the numbers for Creditas Group, with law firms Watson Farley & Williams and Braun Partners drawing up contracts according to English and Czech law

The post Czechs write cheque to buy InterGen appeared first on theenergyst.com.