Having witnessed its utility-scale solar boom peak in 2015, the UK is primed for a return to large-scale solar buildout. Liam Stoker explores the pipeline, the drivers and the role of the country’s new energy security strategy in driving new solar deployment.
With tens of gigawatts of solar just waiting to be deployed, the UK solar market looks set to return to gigawatt-scale deployment. But with grid constraints listed as the biggest obstacle in both the short- and medium-term, Liam Stoker learns what, exactly, the problem is.
UK-based solar developer and O&M provider Anesco has been acquired by a joint venture between US private equity firm Ara Partners and Aksiom Services Group.
As the market moves away from power purchase agreements, the possibility for a new breed of investors comfortable with market risk is emerging alongside the potential for some larger investors to bring trading in-house.
Anesco has turned to EDF Energy to optimise its landmark Clayhill solar-plus-storage farm, including the provision of an “industry first” guaranteed floor price for storage.
The lifting of political and cost-based brakes on European solar is set to awaken a sleeping giant, with subsidy-free solar projects potentially the norm all across Europe in just a few years.
