Elgin Energy has agreed to sell a 519MW solar PV portfolio and 70MW co-located energy storage to ScottishPower Renewables, marking the UK's largest solar transaction contributing to the 2050 Net Zero Strategy.
London, United Kingdom (UK) – Elgin Energy, leading international independent solar and storage developer, has agreed to sell a 519MW portfolio of solar PV projects and 70MW of colocated energy storage capacity to ScottishPower Renewables (UK) Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of global utility Iberdrola Group.
The portfolio sale marks the UK’s largest solar PV transaction to date, consisting of 12 projects at the pre-construction stage located across England, Wales and Scotland, with a combined capacity of 519MW. The portfolio also includes a co-located 70MW battery solution that is at an advanced stage of development. It is anticipated that the projects will be operational between 2023-2025. The portfolio will be the largest to be delivered in the UK’s post-subsidy market, demonstrating the key role that solar PV combined with storage will play in the UK’s future generation mix, providing flexible and competitive renewable energy.
“We are delighted to have reached this significant milestone and partnered with Iberdrola / ScottishPower Renewables on this portfolio. We will continue to develop and deliver on our 5GW project pipeline across the UK, Ireland and Australia, working closely with landowners, local authorities and all related stakeholders.”, commented Ronan Kilduff, CEO of Elgin Energy.
The portfolio will play a pivotal role in contributing towards the UK’s 2050 Net Zero Strategy, not only generating low cost and low carbon electricity but also creating significant regional economic development and supplying zero-carbon electricity to over 143,000 homes across the UK.
Elgin Energy is a full service, utility scale, solar+storage developer bringing projects from origination through development. The company has a portfolio of projects in late-stage development totalling over 5GW across three key markets of UK, Australia and Ireland. In 2021, Elgin Energy secured financing with Berenberg Green Energy Fund for the development of solar PV projects totalling 1.36GW in the UK and Ireland and also raised £25 million via Focus Capital Partners to fund its growth strategy across its core markets. In 2020, the company partnered, in separate transactions, with both Foresight Group and Metka-EGN in relation to two portfolios to deliver a total of 276MW of UK solar development projects and was successful with two Irish solar projects in Ireland’s first solar auction, RESS-1 – Renewable Energy Support Scheme (RESS). In addition to the above, Elgin Energy delivered 21 solar projects, totalling 230MW, before the UK Government’s Renewables Obligation (ROCs) scheme ended in 2017.
Elgin Energy works with long-term strategic partners to deliver projects to energisation and provides asset management services through their operational life. The company has expanded internationally over the last 12 years with a professional team of engineers, accountants and lawyers located in its London, Dublin and Sydney offices. Elgin has a 98% success rate through planning across all its markets.
Iberdrola is one of the world’s biggest energy companies, a leader in renewables, which is spearheading the energy transition to a low carbon economy. The group supplies energy to almost 100 million people in dozens of countries. It carries out renewables, networks and commercial activities in Europe (Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy and Greece), the United States, Brazil, Mexico and Australia, and, as growth platforms, it is present in markets such as Japan, Ireland, Sweden and Poland, among others. With a workforce of more than 37,000 and assets in excess of €122.5 billion, in 2020, it achieved a turnover of €33 billion and a net profit of over €3.6 billion. The company contributes to sustain 400,000 jobs along its supply chain, with annual procurement of €14 billion. A benchmark in the fight against climate change, it has allocated more than €120 billion over the last two decades to building a sustainable energy model, based on sound environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles.
