Energy company EDF has signed a seven-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Brockwell Energy to purchase renewable energy from North Kyle onshore wind farm.
The North Kyle onshore wind farm – currently under construction in East Ayrshire, Scotland – will provide 100% of its capacity of 220.5MW to EDF when it becomes operational in early 2025.
Developer Brockwell Energy secured a Contract for Difference (CfD) in allocation round 4 (AR4). EDF says the site is expected to bring 630GWh of renewable energy to 217,000 homes each year.
The site will contribute to the Scottish government’s renewable energy target, which is “to deliver at least 20GW of additional low-cost renewable electricity capacity by 2030”. As part of the target, the aim is to increase onshore wind “from 8.78 GW as of June 2022, to over 20 GW by 2030, more than doubling our existing capacity.”
The North Kyle wind farm is being built on a former coal mining site, and will help to deliver investment and regeneration to the area, according to EDF. The project development seeks to restore the site and provide a “ground-breaking community benefit scheme”.
The restoration would encompass:
- Provision of public access along around 50km of track to provide routes of varying distance
- Habitat management improvements including encouragement of black grouse
- Restoration of peat and creation of water bodies
- Restoration of c. 97 ha of currently derelict land
- Regrading of tips to improve appeal to forest users such as walkers and cyclists
- Provision of signposting and interpretive displays to aid navigation and provide context
Tom Abbott, head of PPA at EDF said: “It’s great to be definitively helping Britain achieve Net Zero through this PPA agreement, which will bring new renewables onto our grid via this new onshore wind farm in Scotland. We are delighted to be offtaking 100% of the renewable wind power from North Kyle, demonstrating EDF’s expertise in offering all types of PPA. Particularly in this case with a project that received a CfD, and our commitment to supporting new renewable projects.”
David Surtees, commercial manager at Brockwell Energy commented: “EDF has been a great counterparty to deal with. We set ourselves tight deadlines for closing the project and the EDF team was supportive and responsive throughout the process. EDF’s deep expertise in structuring PPA’s for renewable projects helped us to quickly get an optimal solution that addressed the needs of equity and debt providers.”
Earlier this month, EDF announced a community consultation for a 400MW onshore wind farm to be built in the Scottish borders, which EDF says could deliver a community benefit fund of £2 million annually.
EDF is also delivering the 3.2GW Sizewell C nuclear power plant. Construction on the plant is expected to commence in the next year, and take between 13-17 years to complete, according to a forecast by the University of Greenwich.
EDF began decommissioning its last coal-fired power plants earlier in 2023.
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