Norwegian energy company Statkraft is to buy electricity from five solar farms in Germany totalling 52MW owned by Enerparc under a 12-year power purchase agreement.
The projects, which are located in the Bavaria region, will supply Statkraft with about 600 gigawatt-hours of electricity from May 2020 to December 2031.
All five solar farms are expected online in the spring of next year.
Sunnic, the direct marketing subsidiary of Enerparc, is responsible for short-term marketing on the spot market.
The long-term purchase of the generated electricity by Statkraft provides Enerparc with the necessary planning security to implement a project of this size, the company said.
Statkraft will use the electricity for the structured power supply of industrial companies.
Statkraft Germany managing director Carsten Poppinga said: “The agreement with Enerparc strengthens Statkraft’s position as a leading PPA provider.
“PPAs secure the long-term financing of new plants and thus enable the further expansion of renewable energy without subsidies in Germany.
“More and more industrial companies are setting themselves ambitious sustainability targets.
“In addition to electricity from wind turbines, we can now also offer these companies electricity from subsidy-free solar plants for structured electricity supplies.”
Enerparc chief executive Stefan Muller said: “The realisation of this project is groundbreaking – both for Enerparc and for the expansion of renewable energy in Germany.
“With these solar parks with an output of 52MW, we are realising subsidy-free projects on a multi-megawatt scale for the first time and giving the go-ahead for many other future projects in this area.
“With Statkraft as an experienced partner, we are securing the financing of this and other projects. We look forward to long-term cooperation.”
Sunnic managing director Arved von Harpe said: “We look forward to being able to apply our acquired expertise in the short-term trading of renewable electricity to projects outside the traditional EEG marketing.”