Case Study: Route-to-market success at Doverdale

In 2015, the subsidies and tariffs that had once supported the solar energy industry were pulled by government. This resulted in a need to identify new route-to-market (“RTM”) and funding opportunities to help bring the vision of a net zero future to fruition.

In the post-subsidy era, JBM Solar has been at the forefront of the development and delivery of clean, homegrown solar energy, securing 10% of the consented large-scale (>30MWp) solar capacity in the energy market since 2018.

New route-to-market opportunities

The removal of the subsidies that once helped progress the roll out of solar energy in the UK resulted in the need to source new opportunities for long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). This could be done either privately with corporates, or more recently, via the UK government’s Contract for Difference (CfD) auctions.  The PPA may include an exclusivity period during which all power produced is to be supplied to the purchaser.

JBM continues to supplement its portfolio with a range of RTM options and is in exclusive discussions with investment-grade corporates to help them meet their energy demands in a cost-effective and sustainable way.

2022 CfD Success

In July 2022, JBM secured six CfDs in the government’s biggest ever round of its flagship auction, and the first since 2015 to allow solar technologies to compete for funding. JBM’s successful CfD bid for 270MWp of capacity contributed to solar energy projects overall securing more than 2.2GW, 12.5% of which is to be delivered by JBM. This secures a route-to-market for close to 10% of its grid-secured pipeline, enough to power 100,000 homes, the equivalent of the entire domestic needs of Swindon.

Schemes such as Doverdale all continue to play an important and contributing role in supporting government legislation to decarbonise our energy system and make the UK carbon neutral by 2050.