Lloyds Banking Group has signed a 10-year corporate Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with independent power producer Low Carbon for UK solar.
During the 10-year agreement, Lloyds plans to purchase 50 GWh of clean electricity annually generated from two of Low Carbon’s UK projects.
These projects include the firm’s 49MW Meadow Solar Farm in Hampshire and the 23MW Pepperhill Solar Farm in Staffordshire.
Lloyds Banking Group’s investment means both solar farms will now develop vital enhancements to support nature, biodiversity and local wildlife, in line with the recent 10% Biodiversity Net Gain requirements, which came into force in England in February 2024.
This entails the additions of species-rich wildflower grassland and hedgerows to support pollinators, new UK native woodland planting, and vital foraging and sheltering features for local wildlife.
Moreover, as a long-standing partner of Low Carbon’s multi-bank £540 million finance facility, Lloyds is also supporting the construction of a 1GW portfolio of solar projects in the UK and the Netherlands.
Dave Blott, future ways of working director at Lloyds Banking Group, said: “The first electricity from these solar farms will be delivered in 2025, helping us to accelerate our transition to using cleaner, renewable energy.
“We are committed to reducing the carbon emissions we generate through our own operations to help Britain prosper, and this PPA helps us realise this ambition.”
Low Carbon in the UK
The global renewable energy company Low Carbon has already established itself as a frontrunner for solar and battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in the UK.
Most notably, January 2024 saw the firm reach a financial close on its UK 385MW portfolio of solar and co-located battery storage projects. Low Carbon confirmed that 290MW of the portfolio will specifically be solar power, meaning 95MW of the capacity will consist of co-located two-hour duration BESS.
The projects, which are set to enter construction in early 2024, will be delivered by international EPC contractor Equans through its subsidiary Bouygues Energies and Services and Elmya, whilst Trina Storage will provide the portfolio’s BESS units.
In the same month, Low Carbon also signed optimisation agreements with Habitat Energy, Flexitricity, and EDF for the four collocated BESS involved in this portfolio.
The company confirmed this agreement would see the three companies dynamically optimise the batteries across different markets on a revenue share model across Low Carbon’s Meadow (10MW), Sandon Brook (35MW), Fern Brook (20MW), and Birch (30MW) BESS sites.
With the first system set to come online in early 2025, the four sites will capture intermittent renewable energy generation and use the BESS as a method to provide flexibility to the grid.