February was “a month to remember in the European PPA market,” according to Swiss consulting firm Pexapark, which reports that investors on the continent signed 54 PPA for 3,046 MW of capacity.
With 728 MW, Google was the biggest buyer in February; utilities were only involved in four of the agreements that were made public, accounting for a total of 557 MW.
The projects this month are spread across 14 European nations, with Spain leading the way in volume (662 MW) across six deals and Germany leading the way in total agreements (13 PPAs, or 502 MW).
Not to be outdone, Poland and Italy had eight and five agreements, respectively.
Estonia was the next country to declare its first PPA, after Slovakia.
Leading the way with 24 agreements totaling 1,107 MW was solar, followed by 8 contracts for 622 MW from offshore wind and 14 deals for 582 MW from onshore wind.
For the remaining contracts, there were no technological specifications given.
With abundant supply and low demand, the prices of the electricity market are similar to those of gas and coal.
In particular, at the end of February, Pexapark’s EURO Composite index decreased 1.3% to €43.20 ($46.72)/MWh.
The United Kingdom saw the largest month-over-month decline in PPA prices, falling by 10.5%. PPA prices increased by 31.3% in Poland and by a very small 0.8% in Germany.
The French telecom operator Iliad and the Norwegian state energy provider Statkraft signed two successive 10-year PPAs in Italy and Poland.
The first agreement involved 27.9 MW of solar energy handled by Sonnedix, and the second involved approximately 36 MW of solar energy owned by Danish developer Better Energy in Resko, Poland.
The German steel manufacturer Salzgitter Flachstahl and Octopus Renewables inked a 10-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for a 122 MW solar park that is scheduled to start generating power in January 2025.
The Šariš brewery in Slovakia has an agreement with Enery, an independent energy provider in Austria, for a newly constructed 6.3 MW solar park located near Iliašovce. It is expected to be finished during the upcoming six months.
Source February
