Manchester City Council has signed a ‘milestone’ 15-year renewable energy agreement.
The local authority is entering into a virtual Power Purchase Agreement (vPPA) with renewable energy firm AGR Power.
It makes Manchester one of the first UK local authorities to enter into a vPPA, which means it will pay a fixed price for energy for 15 years but will not receive the electricity, which will be sold in a wholesale market.
But the council will receive the renewable energy certificates, which it said meant savings of an estimated 20,000 tonnes of carbon emissions over five years, with the deal meeting the ‘vast majority’ of its electricity supply needs.
The agreement will support the construction and operation of a new solar farm near Boston in Lincolnshire.
Executive member for environment Tracey Rawlins said the ‘milestone’ agreement had taken a ‘huge amount of work’.
The vPPA is due to go live by September 2025.
