Forster Energy has partnered with Renewable Energy Investments (REI) to offer a power purchase agreement (PPA) model allowing a wide range of potential clients to adopt solar energy at zero upfront cost.
The partnership was established earlier this month and provides access to all of the funding required for Scottish businesses, public sector, commercial landlords and community groups to take on a PPA installation.
Steve Scott, managing director at Forster Energy, said: “This partnership will make solar more widely accessible, particularly for those with a high energy consumption and whom funding has been a barrier to deployment”.
The offer is limited to projects larger than 20kWp unless part of a multi-site enquiry and Forster Group is looking to deliver savings of between 20-30% on a client’s energy bills.
While this is dependent on their on-site usage pattern and demand, this estimate is based on a client currently paying 8.9p/kWh for their electricity under the PPA as opposed to a 12.56p/kWh electricity tariff, while also assuming 2.5% RPI and 5.7% electricity price inflation.
Based on a 50kWp solar PV system, where 90% of the solar generated electricity is being used on-site, a typical client will save £1,504 on the first year’s electricity bill, and £137,433 over the 25 years of the PPA plan.
A spokesperson for Forster added that considering electricity cost inflation is typically higher than RPI, the cost of the PPA should increase slower than the users existing electricity tariff, meaning “the sooner people can act the greater the benefit”.
Simon Booth, managing director at REI, added: “We are delighted to be working with Forster Energy, to provide their clients with an attractive and secure funding option.”