Law firm has entered into a Power Purchasing Agreement with NextEnergy in a deal that will see it source solar energy from 13MW project in Somerset
DLA Piper has become the first global law firm to enter into a Purchase Power Agreement (PPA) for solar energy, in support of its efforts to halve its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
Leading solar investment and asset manager NextEnergy Group today announced it has signed a Corporate PPA with DLA Piper for a 13MW solar farm that is to be built in Somerset. NextEnergy Group is to build and operate the solar plant, which will supply renewable power directly to the grid. The resulting power will supply 15 of DLA Piper’s European and UK offices.
“The corporate PPA market continues to strengthen,” said Ross Grier, UK managing director of NextEnergy Capital, the group’s specialist solar investment manager with over $3.2bn in assets under management. “Corporate PPAs will form an important component of the way companies seek to decarbonise over the next decade and it’s a pleasure being at the forefront of this with DLA Piper in the legal sector.”
Natasha Luther-Jones, DLA Piper’s international head of sustainability and ESG, said: “DLA Piper’s collaboration with this to be built solar farm is yet another illustration of our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint through innovative solutions. We are the first law firm to enter into a corporate PPA so this project is a true statement of our ambition to be one of the most impactful business law firms for sustainability.”
The news follows reports that PPAs are proving increasingly popular with leading corporates, as companies look to reduce their carbon emissions and insulate themselves against soaring gas prices. Renewable transaction infrastructure provider LevelTen Energy’s latest PPA Price Index for the fourth quarter of last year revealed a 7.8 per cent price rise for European PPAs on a quarter on quarter basis, meaning the average cost of renewable PPAs has soared by 17.4 per cent in the past nine months.
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