Three companies step up to implement government low carbon energy policy, despite steep funding cuts
Iver, Buckinghamshire, UK: BELECTRIC UK has completed a 3.42 MWp (megawatt peak) solar power installation on the rooftops of the Rolls-Royce defence aerospace manufacturing facility in Bristol, UK. The new solar power plant — Rolls-Royce’s first in the UK — will generate over 3 million kWh (kilowatt hours) of clean energy annually for the next 25 years. This would be enough to power 900 average UK homes from the rooftops of a single factory. The plant will displace an estimated 1.4 million kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions per year. Rolls-Royce will realise immediate savings on its energy bills by using all the zero-carbon electricity generated within its Bristol site, which is being provided to Rolls-Royce through a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) priced below their current cost of energy. As well as a price advantage today, this PPA will safeguard against future energy price rises resulting from increasingly expensive fossil-fuel and nuclear generation.
In the time between conception and construction of the Bristol solar plant, successive cuts in government incentives for low-carbon energy had major impacts upon the economics of the project. However, despite feed-in tariffs having been reduced to the point of insignificance, Rolls-Royce, BELECTRIC UK and Rockfire were able to deliver a path forwards by finding an acceptable balance of energy costs, commitments towards CSR and carbon reduction goals, and acceptable returns on investments.
Toddington Harper, CEO of BELECTRIC UK, commented: “It was only a short while ago that the government was talking enthusiastically about its support for solar energy on industrial and commercial rooftops. Since then, actual government support for solar in real terms has fallen to zero in many cases, threatening the viability of many industrial rooftop installations. Undeterred, we pushed forward with working out how to deliver this fantastic project and remained solutions-focused. We are delighted with the result we achieved with Rolls-Royce and Rockfire – a commercially viable large-scale solar power plant that is not dependent on subsidy and generates clean electricity and offsets carbon emissions on a meaningful scale. Furthermore, we believe this ‘UK first’ sets an exciting precedent and path forwards for how we can continue to deliver solar energy in the UK.”
Liam Kavanagh, founder and CEO of Rockfire Energy, said: “We would like to congratulate both Rolls-Royce and BELECTRIC UK on achieving such a great result for the low carbon economy in the face of dwindling government support. We were proud to step in to finance the project, and are actively seeking involvement in future large-scale clean energy projects that provide similar environmental and commercial benefits.”
