Briar Chemicals is expecting to make significant savings on its energy bills after signing a 25 year power purchase agreement (PPA) with RenEnergy to take energy from a 1.9MW solar farm, to be built adjacent to the Norwich plant.
Construction is underway on the new development which will produce around 1.8GWh of energy a year, of which over 70% will be consumed on site. This will be purchased from RenEnergy, which is building the site free of charge, at a 10% discount from grid rates of energy under a ‘tracker’ PPA structure.
This will allow Briar Chemicals to track the market rate for power across the term of the contract and update the PPA price accordingly. This is intended to counteract any possibility of a further drop in energy prices, ensuring the company never pays more for its green energy than the cost of energy from the grid.
Tim Green, executive director and site manager at Briar Chemical, said: “This is an exciting project; it will allow us to use power generated from the sun and use it within our manufacturing processes. This will enable us to focus on production of cost-effective high quality chemicals, knowing that we are doing so in an extremely environmentally friendly way.”
The site has been designed by Ren Energy in order for peak generation to coincide with the facilities peak energy load, which will be partly met by the development’s 6,508 solar panels.
Damian Baker, managing director of RenEnergy, said: “We have been working with Briar for over nine months to deliver this project. The system had to be designed to ensure it met the high standards demanded in this engineering sector and is a real testament to all involved.”
The project will also make use of otherwise undeveloped land next to the Norwich plant, enhancing the biodiversity of the area and offsetting 860 tonnes of CO2 annually.
