Greencoat snaps up 36MW Andershaw wind farm from Statkraft for £120m
Statkraft announces sale of Scottish farm as Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners acquires the UK’s largest consented single site solar-plus-storage project in Kent
Statkraft has sold the 36MW Andershaw wind farm in South Lanarkshire to wind power specialist Greencoat UK Wind plc for £120m, with the European renewables major planning to use all of the proceeds from the sale to fund further renewables projects, it announced today.
Under the terms of the agreement, Statkraft will maintain day-to-day operation and maintenance of the Scottish farm, as well as asset management responsibilities, until 2037.
The 11-turbine project, which is situated just south of Glasgow, has been operational since 2017 and produces enough clean energy to meet the annual needs of about 26,000 homes, Statkfraft said.
Ervind Torblaa, vice president of asset ownership of wind and solar UK, said the farm was a “special project” for Statkraft, with the project having started operations in 2006, the same year the Norwegian company opened its UK office.
“It helped to launch our presence in the UK and was amongst the first handful of projects that we developed and realised here,” he said. “Since then, we’ve gone on to become an important player in the UK renewables market, with a portfolio that includes wind, solar, grid-stability and battery projects as well as being the leading provider of short and long-term PPAs in the UK.”
As part of the deal, Statkraft said the two companies had also signed an extension of the plant’s existing long-term market access PPA (power purchase agreement).
Torblaa stressed that the UK market was critical to Statkraft reaching its aim of delivering 8GW of developed wind and solar by 2025 and said proceeds from the sale of the Scottish wind farm would go towards new clean energy projects.
“100 per cent of the proceeds from this sale will be reinvested into the development of new renewable energy projects,” Torblaa said. “We’ve built mutual trust and respect in the local South Lanarkshire community, so we’re thrilled to be continuing a management role here.”
In related renewables market news, meanwhile, clean power investor Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners also today announced it has snapped up a solar-plus-storage project currently under development in Kent, which has been billed as the largest of its kind in the UK.
Quinbrook said it planned to start constructing the 350MW solar farm, dubbed Project Fortress, in the first half of next year, noting that the project is more than three times the size of the UK’s next largest consented solar PV project.
It said the project would improve the security and reliability of the UK power grid and move the country closer to its net zero target.
The plant, which was granted development consent by the government in May 2020, is forecast to generate enough renewable power each year to meet the needs of 100,000 UK homes and reduce carbon emissions by 164.450 tonnes in its first year of operations alone.
Rory Quinlan, co-founder and managing partner of Quinbrook, said the plant represented a “new frontier” in the UK’s growing solar-plus-storage market.
“We have been immersed in large scale solar and storage in the US for many years and we can apply our significant experience in project design and equipment selection to ensure Fortress becomes the new benchmark for renewables that support the UK grid rather than challenge it,” he said.
Quinlan said the ongoing energy crisis and gas supply shortage highlighted the crucial importance of ramping up renewable generation capacity in the UK. “The acute power price volatility and security of energy supply concerns we have seen in the UK these past weeks highlight how critical new capacity investment in the UK will be to deliver the energy transition without further disruption,” he said. “We plan for Fortress to play its part in helping to improve energy independence for the UK.”
Quinbrook said it would provide customers purchasing energy from Project Fortress with a “complete carbon reporting service” – powered by blockchain, real-time monitoring and other “progressive innovations” – that would enable them to track progress against their net zero goals and meet any climate-related reporting and compliance obligations.
“Fortress provides a timely opportunity to showcase the application of advanced technologies that are critical to verify the carbon reductions available to our customers from Fortress,” Quinn said. “We think this is destined to become the standard for all energy supply projects in the years ahead.”
