UK: GDF SUEZ Energy UK’s reliability, track record and customer service win new PPA with Community Windpower

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. It 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.”

"As one of the world's leading providers of wind energy finance we are once again underlining our structuring expertise in the wind sector with this commitment," says Thomas Brehler, Global Head of Power, Renewables and Water at KfW IPEX-Bank. "We are pleased to contribute to the production of renewable energy in Scotland and are very happy to have GDF SUEZ as the offtaker of a wind farm operated by Community Windpower, a highly qualified player in the wind energy market in the UK."

Under the PPA, GDF SUEZ Energy UK will buy the electricity from Aikengall II at an index-linked rate, providing Community Windpower with a market-reflective price for its energy. To provide an assured return on investment for the project’s funders, the PPA also incorporates a floor price, guaranteeing a minimum rate should market prices fall significantly.

In addition, GDF SUEZ Energy UK will purchase all ROC certificates generated by the facility, which help the energy supplier to meet its own sustainable sourcing commitment under the government’s Renewables Obligation.

Paul Roberts Head of Local Portfolio Management, GDF SUEZ Energy UK says “We are extremely pleased to extend our relationship with Community Windpower and to be part of another successful renewable energy project."