Danish energy giant Ørsted has signed a ten year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Northumbrian Water Group to supply renewable electricity from its Race Bank offshore wind farm.
Image: Ørsted’s Race Bank wind farm. Photo: Courtesy of Ørsted.
As per the agreement, Ørsted will supply 100GWh of renewable electricity to Northumbrian Water. The deal is an expansion of renewable energy supply agreement between the companies, which started last April.
The agreement will allow Northumbrian Water to source 30% of its renewable electricity directly from the Race Bank offshore wind farm.
The move adds to the Durham-headquartered water company’s sustainable and renewable energy strategy, building on its existing solar, hydro, gas to grid and advanced anaerobic digestion power generation.
Northumbrian Water group commercial director Graham Southall said: “This PPA is not only a first of its kind in the UK; more importantly it aligns perfectly with our sustainability goals and our ambitions of creating a truly cohesive energy management strategy. The long-term stability this brings is fantastic for us, and great news for our customers and stakeholders, because it reduces operational costs without compromising our work.”
The electricity will be supplied to Northumbrian Water consumption sites in the North East, Essex and Suffolk, which amount to about 1TWh across the term. The agreement is expected to bring down the cost of operations for the water utility through a long-term fixed price for electricity.
Ørsted corporate PPAs head Alana Kühne said: “Northumbrian Water shares our ambitions towards a greener future and are able to benefit from this journey through signing a Corporate PPA from Race Bank. For Ørsted, this agreement is an important step towards building long-term green partnerships with corporate power customers.”
Located 27km north of Blakeney Point off the coast of Norfolk, Race Bank offshore wind farm is the latest wind farm to be operational in the UK. The wind farm can generate up to 573MW of green electricity through 91 of Siemens Gamesa 6MW wind turbines.
The offshore wind can generate enough clean energy to power more than 50,000 UK homes, while offsetting more than 830,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year.