Vodafone agrees 10 year solar PPA to secure clean and affordable energy

Vodafone and Centrica have announced the signing of a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with MYTILINEOS S.A for the output from three solar farms under construction in England, with a total capacity of 110MW.

The 10-year agreement for power generated from the solar farms, in Lincolnshire, Worcestershire and Nottinghamshire, secures clean energy and supports Vodafone’s ambition to achieve net zero UK operations by 2027.

Vodafone will purchase a significant proportion of the electricity output from the solar farms, securing their development and bringing additional renewable power provision to the UK grid. Energy generation is expected to begin by end 2022.

The deal, between Vodafone, Centrica as the energy trading expert and MYTILINEOS’ Renewables & Storage Development Business Unit as the generator, supports the UK government’s ambition to focus on home-grown, clean and more affordable energy and so boost long-term energy independence and security.

Power Purchase Agreements are key to Vodafone’s renewable energy procurement strategy. This is the second such agreement, and follows the development of two onshore wind farms, in Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire, which together supply 75 gigawatt hours of renewable electricity per year.

Approximately 55GWh of green electricity will be dedicated to Vodafone UK, with the remainder being sold to balancing and merchant power markets through Centrica’s Energy Marketing & Trading business.

Building on the longstanding customer relationship between Vodafone and Centrica, the agreement will help Vodafone effectively price hedge their energy supply needs whilst achieving sustainability benefits from carbon savings recorded against Vodafone’s Science Based Targets (SBTi).

The deal reaffirms Centrica’s expertise in and commitment to supporting the growth of sustainable energy systems across Europe through providing market leading route-to-market services. Trading, optimising and balancing renewable energy is the core of Centrica’s expertise.

Ahmed Essam, UK CEO, Vodafone, said: “Achieving our ambitious net zero targets is a critical part of our company strategy. Already, our entire business in the UK and Europe is powered by 100% renewable electricity. Today’s announcement ensures a significant proportion of our energy requirement, for at least the next 10 years, is home-grown in the UK.”

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