Falck Renewables and IDELE to explore agrivoltaics in France; Octopus Energy takes over Zestec in UK; MET Group expands into Romania; Low Carbon announces 75 MW solar in UK; Ørsted and Skovgaard Energy announce Power-to-X facility in Denmark.
Falck Renewables to explore agrivoltaics in France: Italy's Falck Renewables has entered a partnership agreement with French livestock organization Institut De L'Elevage (IDELE) to collaborate on the development of agrivoltaics in France. Falck said it will benefit from best practice and insights in the agriculture sector to apply in its agrivoltaic projects. IDELE will use data from agrivoltaic projects to feed into agronomic research to further develop its understanding of the benefits of combining energy production with agriculture. Initial projects are already in development, it informed.
Octopus Energy acquires Zestec: UK based Octopus Energy has acquired solar developer and asset manager Zestec Renewable Energy and expanded its pipeline with over 160 MW. The latter plans to sell to SMEs and public sector organizations hosting solar panels via power purchase agreements (PPA). Over 100 projects will be built by 2027 through a fund managed by Octopus Energy Generation, ranging from 100 kW to 7 MW. Octopus says this acquisition will boost the solar assets it manages by up to 11%. "There's a significant untapped opportunity in the UK to generate more cheap green power from businesses' rooftops," said CEO of Octopus Energy Generation, Zoisa North-Bond. "This space is fast-growing and it'll help bring more energy security and lower energy bills, all while allowing companies to reduce their carbon emissions."
MET Group acquires 52 MW solar project: Switzerland based MET Group has ventured into Romanian renewable market with the acquisition of a 52 MW solar power project from an unidentified seller. The project is currently at a late planning stage and expected to reach ready-to-build (RTB) status by Q1/2023. On completion in 2024, it is expected to generate 82 GWh annually in Southern Romania, near Bucharest. MET says Romania is now the 4th country the company has expanded into in 2022, after Italy, Spain and Poland (see Europe PV News Snippets). The Swiss company targets to reach 2 GW installed capacity portfolio by 2026 within Europe.
Low Carbon announces 3 PV projects in the UK: Renewable energy company Low Carbon has announced plans to build 3 new large scale solar farms with over 75 MW combined capacity in the UK that will be the 1st to receive funding using its multi-bank financing facility from NatWest, Lloyds Bank and AIB. The facility targets to cover 1 GW solar as part of the company's plans to create 20 GW of new renewable energy capacity by 2030. The 3 projects are 23.4 MW Fox Covert Solar Farm in Buckinghamshire, 28.8 MW Inkersall Road Solar Farm in Derbyshire and 23 MW St. Clere's Solar Farm in Essex.
Power-to-X facility in Denmark: Denmark based Ørsted and renewable energy Skovgaard Energy will jointly develop a Power-to-X facility in the country to produce solar and wind powered green hydrogen. Under phase I, the plan is to establish an electrolysis capacity of 150 MW in Idomlund near Holstebro in western Denmark, which the duo say is an optimal strategic location to significantly scale up the project and carries more potential for offshore wind. Ørsted says if necessary offshore wind capacity and hydrogen infrastructure in and out of Denmark are established, the electrolysis capacity of the project will be increased to over 3 GW. Green hydrogen thus produced can be exported on a large scale throughout Europe.
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