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

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Sparking up of the 30-acre plot follows the company’s successful equity flotation of £65million, supporting its goal to boost by 2025 its constructed and operational UK portfolio to over 500MW of solar.  Over 80% of that figure is already generating, with another 200MW at various stages of planning consent.

The 8.99 MWp project at Bryngolwg, 20 miles east of Swansea, has capacity to power a nominal 2,500 homes, offsetting around 3,700 tonnes of carbon emissions ever year for the next 40.   That’ll take the west Wales plant beyond the Principality’s goal of achieving Net Zero by 2050.

The project is constructed on low grade agricultural land, previously associated with coal mining.  Rhigos Community Council supports it.  Only twelve months ago, councillors on Rhondda Cynon Taf’s planning committee unanimously gave the farm their permission.

With all existing hedgerows retained, the development introduces extra planting of native bushes and trees in a biodiversity area. Sheep will continue to graze on the site, helping to increase the scheme’s considerable net gain in biodiversity.

Enviromena will manage the farm under a long-term O&M contract, which includes monitoring for performance security, maintenance and landscape management.

Chief operating officer Gary Hales said: “We are pleased to have energised our first project in Wales, safely and on time. The team has designed and constructed a high yielding project which can help to make a difference in achieving Wales’s net zero targets.”

The deal includes the developers funding a solar roof for a village hall run by Rhigos Community Council, cutting power bills and shrinking the rural settlement carbon footprint.

“Supporting the local community is one of our core values”, said Lee Adams, Enviromena’s sales director.

“Our commitment to leave all the communities and places that we touch in better condition than when we arrived begins with constantly evaluating the long-term impacts of all that we do.”

Enviromena has a second solar project on nearby land currently before planners.  The company anticipates their decision before March.

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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”.

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With Schroders Greencoat tapping pension and insurance providers for long-term funds, the duo have established ISG Renewables as a new vehicle for co-development.

Along with every new energy provider, the pair flag enhancing Britain’s energy security and Net Zero ambitions as strategic goals.

A recently commissioned 10 MWp farm, Carn Nicholas near Swansea, is the partners’ first purchase. Finished in recent weeks by Innova, the project is now outputting clean electricity sufficient to offset approximately 2,000 tonnes of CO2 every year.

Two more sites, whose acquisitions are yet to be finalised, are expected to join the operational roster imminently. A further three are described be “in design and procurement” for this year.

Formerly known as Greencoat Capital LLP, Schroders Greencoat manages a 1.1GW portfolio of nearly 130 British solar farms. The parent entity now has £8.8 billion of assets under management globally.

Its first solar fund, Greencoat Solar I LP, was launched in 2016, in response to investor demand for an unlisted product investing in Britain’s operational PV farms. Greencoat Solar II LP reached its first close in September 2017 with £260m of capital from several major UK pension schemes. The UK solar business manages £1.6 billion of capital.

Complementing Schroders’ access to long-term capital, Innova will bring their construction and development projects, plus in-house expertise in the development of sites, construction, and operational management.

The new entity ISG Renewables will, says its parents, target a proportion of contracted revenues through contracts for difference, private wire supply to corporate consumers, and corporate PPAs.

For Schroders Greencoat’s investors, partner Lee Moscovitch welcomed the venture’s long-term, inflation-protected cashflows.

“We are very excited to be working closely with Innova to substantially grow our presence in the UK solar generation and storage market”, Moscovitch added.

Robin Dummett, a director at Innova, echoed his partner’s pleasure.   “Grounded in shared values and ambitions in the renewable energy sector, we believe this market-leading platform, which combines Innova’s development and operational expertise with Schroders Greencoat’s longstanding reputation for delivery, has the capacity to make a major contribution to the UK’s energy security and net zero targets.

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All four are planned for completion this year.  Lifespans for each of 40 years will end with them being returned to their natural state.

Each site will benefit from an advanced biodiversity plan and significant ecological enhancements designed to support some of the UK’s most at-risk birds and wildlife, as well as native plant life. Wildflower meadows will be created, hedgerows and trees will be planted and bird and bat boxes installed.

Low Farm, the biggest site, is expected to register a net biodiversity gain of more than 130%.

Once operational, each PV farm will be monitored by Anesco’s operations and maintenance team,

Wayne Cranstone, Gresham House investment director, said: “We’re delighted to see our partnership with Anesco taking this important step forward with construction now officially underway on the first four projects. All four have been sensitively developed with strong attention to biodiversity, as well as a focus on quality construction to aid their performance and efficiency.”

The three year, 200MW, ground mount solar development and construction partnership is valued in excess of £100m and will comprise sites from 20MW to 50MW in generation capacity.

Anesco CEO Hildagarde McCarville enthused: “Through this partnership with Gresham House, we are delighted to be putting our end-to-end capabilities and expertise to good use, supporting the UK’s transition to a sustainable, low carbon energy network.

“Grid scale solar assets have a vital role to play, not only for aiding decarbonisation but for energy security, which are two of the most pressing challenges we face today. The ability to achieve this, whilst in parallel increasing the biodiversity net gain at these locations, reaffirms our corporate commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”

Anesco oversees more than 140 utility scale projects in solar generation and power storage. Its operations and maintenance team manages more than 1.6GW of assets.

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Under the parties’ ten-year deal, Octopus Energy’s PV farm at Breach, near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, will provide around 64 GWh every year, equivalent to 14% of Iceland’s electricity needs for its total UK estate of 1,000 stores.

On the parties’ calculations, the 67 MWp Breach facility thus eliminates 23,000 tonnes of CO2 pollution, amounting to the planting of 110,000 trees every year.

Octopus Energy Generation acquired the site in June 2022 on behalf of ORIT, the privately held group’s investment trust. Construction began in November 2022, and the farm is scheduled to generate this autumn.

Last month Vodafone signed a deal with British Gas’ parent Centrica and developer Mytilineos to guarantee supply of 216 GWh per year from five solar parks, earmarked for consented sites stretching from Dorset to Nottinghamshire.

Of the Iceland deal, a happy Zoisa North-Bond, boss of Octopus Energy Generation declared: “It’s great to see a massive British firm like Iceland Foods accelerate its renewable energy journey, freezing its foods with the power of the sun.

“Iceland has been a trailblazer in sustainability – and the more companies that follow their lead, the quicker we can reduce our economy’s dependence on expensive fossil fuels and shift to a future powered by clean energy.”

Iceland’s CEO Tarsem Dhaliwal welcomed the reliability of the ten year deal, secured, as he noted, “at a significant discount to the current wholesale price”.

“This partnership is an exciting step in our journey towards achieving net zero by 2040″, said Iceland’s top geezer.

“It gives us some clarity on our energy costs for the coming years”, This helps to mitigate the impact of the volatility that has plagued the industry for the past 12 months”.

Iceland’s founder Richard Walker has declared his intention of seeking to become a Conservative MP at the next General Election.

As one of Europe’s biggest renewables investors, Octopus Energy Generation’s fund management team oversees clean generation assets valued at nearly £6 billion. Among its prominent PPA deals is last January’s agreement to despatch 160GWh of onshore wind power every year from Cumberhead in Lanark to Kimberly Clark’s manufacturing and distribution facilities across the UK.

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