BayWa r.e. sells 18 MWp solar park in England to CEE

BayWa r.e. has sold the Homestead solar park in England to CEE, an associated company from Hamburg. BayWa r.e. will take over the technical operations management of the park, which has a capacity of 17.7 megawatt peak. The plant is being financed by the Ärzteversorgung Westfalen-Lippe (ÄVWL).

Located near Towcester, around 10 miles south of Northampton, the project was completed in the spring 2015 and was connected to the public grid under the ROC scheme. The Homestead plant has now been transferred to its new owner. Matthias Taft, Board Member of BayWa AG, responsible for the energy business, explained: 

“With the sale of the fourth PV project to CEE, we are continuing our successful collaboration with this company. I’m also very pleased to announce that, in the coming weeks, we will connect further solar projects with a capacity of 130 MWp to the grid”.

Detlef Schreiber, CEO of CEE added: 

“Together with BayWa r.e, CEE has been able to expand its PV portfolio in Great Britain to 60 MW. We look forward to continuing our successful partnership. This brings the total CEE portfolio to 528 MW. 

As with Aston Clinton, the UK solar park sold by BayWa r.e. last December, the company was able to secure a long term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for the project. This PPA provides for sale of the power generated at a fixed price over a period of 20 years. The purchaser is once again McDonald's Restaurant Ltd.

BayWa r.e. is highly active in the British market. To date, the company has constructed solar and wind farms in the UK with a total capacity of over 260 MW. The Vine Farm solar park (45 MWp), currently under construction in eastern England, is the largest single project that BayWa r.e. has accomplished in the solar sector to date. BayWa r.e. continues to be keen on acquiring projects below five megawatts from local UK developers, with particular interest being focused on Northern Ireland.