Statkraft AS, a major energy company owned by the Norwegian government, signed a hybrid power purchase and optimization agreement with Warrington Renewables (York) Ltd. on May 28. This deal will allow Statkraft to manage a solar and storage project owned by Warrington Renewables, which is an entity under the Warrington Borough Council.
The project described in this agreement is situated in Yorkshire and was completed at the end of 2019. GRIDSERVE Sustainable Energy Ltd., a British developer of renewable projects, was responsible for its design and construction. Regarding capabilities, the Warrington project has a photovoltaic generation capacity of 35 megawatts and a battery storage capacity of 27 megawatt-hours. It is the first utility-scale solar project (or solar farm) in the UK that deploys single-axis trackers and bifacial photovoltaic modules.
Under the agreement, Statkraft will acquire all of the generated and stored power of the project. The Norwegian utility giant especially plans to enhance the flexibility of the battery storage facility so as to maximize the economic value of the whole project site.
Specifically, the operations of the project will be optimized through its integration into Statkraftâs Unity platform. This virtual power platform manages over 2,600 megawatts of installed capacity of wind generation, photovoltaic generation, energy storage, and natural gas peaker generation in the UK.
Hybrid power purchasing agreement is a solution best suited for an innovative renewable project
Nick Heyward, who leads the energy storage division at Statkraft UK Ltd., pointed out that his company proposed a hybrid power purchasing agreement to Warrington Renewables due to the inclusion of the battery storage facility and the advanced photovoltaic technologies such as bifacial modules. This solution, rather than a traditional fixed-rate contract, can truly reflect the values of these innovations and help effectively manage every aspect of the project.
Heyward also said he hopes that the deal with Warrington Borough Council can serve as a template for local authorities that want to use solar or wind power to achieve net zero in carbon emissions and produce additional revenues for their communities.
Earlier this January, Statkraft completed an 11-megawatt battery storage facility that is part of an onshore wind and storage project in Ireland. Also, in October last year, the company announced an acquisition deal involving 320 megawatts of utility solar assets in China.
As for GRIDSERVE, it has secured investments in millions of pounds from Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC to build more hybrid solar farms and a network of charging infrastructure for electric cars. GRIDSERVE hopes that the partnership, which was announced this April, will hasten the replacement of gas stations with charging stations in the UK and thereby significantly expand the domestic adoption of electric cars.
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