Forty renewable power generators in the U.K. have secured commercial supply contracts in the open market for when their government aid runs out. The U.K. government has set a target for 10% of all U.K. electricity generation to come from renewable sources by 2010.
Under Britain's Non-Fossil Fuel Obligations (NFFO) policy, electricity suppliers are obliged to buy a certain amount of power from renewable projects. Contracts under the first and second NFFO rounds will expire Dec. 31, requiring these operators to market output in competition with conventional generators.
So far, 40 renewable power projects, representing 120 MW, have supply contracts beginning Jan. 1, 1999, with seven regional electric utilities. This equals about one fifth of NFFO power currently generated or under development.
Renewable Generators Consortium Ltd. Director Andrew McDonald said that these projects are able to offer large amounts of renewable electric power to sellers and are able to secure a "green" premium price for their output.
While the premium was not revealed, analysts earlier predicted that suppliers will offer a guaranteed percentage of "green" power in a customer's supply for an extra 10%.
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