Big Six energy company E.on has signed a new power purchasing agreement with German power giant RWE Renewables, for 892MW of power a year.
The agreement will see power from 20 British wind farms around the country, both onshore and offshore, provided to E.on’s customers for two-and-a-half years.
The wind farms were originally built by E.on, but transferred to RWE in October as part of a large scale asset swap. The move saw RWE take control of operations from both E.On and Innogy to become the second largest wind power generator in the world.
Michael Lewis, E.ON UK chief executive said: “We have now secured the power coming from all those wind farms, as well as similar arrangements we have with more than a dozen independent generators around the country, which means our customers can continue to enjoy an electricity supply backed by UK renewables.
“But the future of energy doesn’t stop here – to combat the climate change we are now focusing on helping our customers to better manage their energy through smart, personalised and sustainable technologies such as solar and battery technology, heat pumps and electric vehicle chargers.”
This PPA brings the total power purchased by E.on from RWE Renewables to around 3TWh annually, including power from the London Array, the world’s second largest offshore wind farm.
Tom Glover, chief commercial officer at RWE Renewables, said: “Great Britain, where we already operate over 2,000MW of renewable energy plants, is a very attractive market for RWE due to its well-functioning framework. PPAs as are an extremely important instrument that help to achieve renewable build-out targets and offer stability for all parties involved.”
E.on has invested £3.3bn in renewable energy in the UK in recent years, including constructing the wind farms involved in the PPA.
In July, the company announced that it was switching all of its 3.3 million residential customers to 100% renewable energy as a standard, it what it said was a first of its kind move.
RWE Renewables is also undergoing a major shift, announcing a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2040, as it continues to invest in renewables, in particular wind, and decommission its coal facilities. The company currently has an installed capacity of more than 9GW, with a further, combined 2.6GW in assets under construction.
