Danish independent energy service company Danske Commodities has signed a 15-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Limited (BOWL).
Under the agreement, Danske Commodities will handle all forecasting and trading for 294 MW, equivalent to 50% of the farm’s production. The PPA is Danske Commodities’ first long-term balancing contract in the UK market, where it has been trading power since 2010.
“The agreement with BOWL is an important milestone for Danske Commodities. It builds on our experience in structuring PPAs in Europe and demonstrates our capability as a long-term counterparty in the UK market,” said Dirk Mausbeck, CEO of Danske Commodities.
“The growing share of renewable energy will create new types of risks and opportunities for participants in the UK market. As a leader in a number of European markets with a large share of renewable energy, we see strong opportunity to support UK renewables with competitive solutions that manage their risk and lower their costs, while meeting the needs of their investors and banking partners.”
BOWL is owned by SSE (50%), two funds managed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (25%) and Repsol Nuevas Energias UK Limited (25%).
Steve Wilson, BOWL Project Manager, said: “We are pleased to have signed a PPA agreement for 50% of the Beatrice Offshore wind farm marking another positive milestone for the development. Danske Commodities structured a flexible and competitive solution that met our needs and we look forward to working with them as the project progresses.”
The Beatrice project is being developed in the Outer Moray Firth, 13.5km from the Caithness coastline.
Subject to a positive final investment decision, the construction of the Beatrice OWF is expected to commence in 2016, with the farm becoming operational in 2019.