Business energy specialist GDF SUEZ Energy UK has agreed a new Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Community Windpower to buy all the electricity and green benefits generated by the new Aikengall II wind farm in East Lothian.
GDF SUEZ Energy UK is already the sole offtaker of electricity, ROCs and LECs from Aikengall I, which amounts to 150GWh per year, and buys the 65GWh of electricity generated each year by Community Windpower’s Millour Hill wind farm.
Aikengall II Community Wind Farm will form a major extension to the existing Aikengall wind farm in East Lothian, but will be operated as a separate entity with its own direct connection to the National Grid. Expected to enter operation in the early part of 2016, the wind farm will comprise 19 wind turbines, generating 250GWh of clean, green energy per year – enough to supply more than 42,000 homes. The project is being financed by KfW IPEX-Bank.
Community Windpower signed its first PPA with GDF SUEZ Energy UK in 2009, and secured the latest agreement following a competitive tender process.
Rod Wood, Managing Director at Community Windpower, says: “We have built up a strong working relationship with GDF SUEZ Energy UK over the past few years, based on its attentive service, proactive team, reliable contract administration and market knowledge. The tender process for Aikengall II was essential to ensure the company’s export contracts were still ‘on-market’ and offered the best deal for the output from our newest and largest wind farm.”
