Pallieter Group, Pala Group and Van der Valk purchase green electricity from Loon op Zand solar farm

With this CPPA, Pallieter Group, Pala Group and Van der Valk are increasing the sustainability of an even larger portion of their energy consumption, after previously fitting solar panels to large swathes of their roof space.

What is a CPPA?

An ever increasing number of businesses are opting to purchase green electricity to make their operations more sustainable. A Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (CPPA) allows a business to purchase sustainable electricity from a specific solar or wind farm through a long-term tariff agreement. Scholt Energy provides the link between producer and customer. The benefits of a CPPA are:

• The customer purchases electricity directly from a sustainable producer. This is the most far-reaching form of sustainable simultaneous electricity purchase.
• Both the customer and producer have certainty of a fixed price for sustainable energy.
• This setup helps to both facilitate solar and wind farms thanks to financial certainty, and stimulate the energy transition.
• Scholt Energy handles all financial and administrative matters relating to the connection between the parties involved.

The solar energy generated is not traded on the open market, but sold directly to Pallieter Group, Pala Group and Van der Valk. As these large-scale consumers consume more electricity than the solar farm is able to generate, there is the option of concluding additional CPPAs at a later date. Klimaatfonds Nederland has a pipeline of more than 250 MW of projects that are yet to be constructed.

The 10 MW solar farm, which is still to be constructed, will be ready by mid-2023 and has two initiators – Klimaatfonds Nederland and ECLoZ. Klimaatfonds Nederland works with project developers and takes care of full financing and construction of large-scale solar projects. Working with Scholt Energy, the organisation is also exploring the use of energy storage (batteries) to maximise revenues from its solar and wind projects. ECLoZ is the local energy cooperative that will allow its members to participate in the solar farm.

Purchasing green electricity at source

As an energy specialist, Scholt Energy has many years of experience in the field of sustainability and (sustainable) energy purchasing. Scholt Energy has agreements with various wind and solar farms, including the Zeebiestocht wind farm. The Guarantees of Origin (GOs) for this Dutch wind energy are thus available to Scholt customers. CPPAs offer a future-focused solution that allows businesses to make their energy consumption more sustainable and more transparent, while also stimulating the energy transition. Van der Valk has robust sustainable ambitions and considers this first CPPA deal with Klimaatfonds Nederland and Scholt Energy as a long-term investment. The organisation hopes to sign multiple CPPA agreements in the near future, in order to increase the portion of sustainable electricity that it purchases. Pallieter Group, Pala Group and Van der Valk have been working with Scholt Energy for many years and have taken joint steps towards the energy transition.