Between August and September, the average price of a power purchase agreement (PPA) signed in Europe fell, while the total volume of electricity generation capacity signed for increased, with solar power remaining a cornerstone of the PPA sector.
These are the headline takeaways from Swiss analyst Pexapark’s latest monthly report into the European PPA sector. The report notes that, between the end of August and the end of September, the composite price of a PPA signed in Europe fell from €52.2/MWh (US$56.2/MWh) to €50.1/MWh (US$53.9/MWh), a decrease of 4.2%.
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This fall was most pronounced in Poland and France, which saw a 7.5% and 6.6% month-on-month fall, respectively, and triggered by a fall in “all tracked commodity prices”, according to Pexapark, after two months of sustained commodity price increases.
However, the total volume of power signed for increased, reaching 1,034MW across 23 deals, a 125% month-on-month increase. While this is lower than the total volume of power contracted in September 2023—which reached 2.5GW, led by Amazon signing an offtake agreement for 869MW of Spanish solar capacity—the increase in month-on-month figures is a positive development, following what Pexapark calls “the typical August slump”.
Pexapark noted that solar projects have been among the most in-demand this year in the PPA space, accounting for around 74% of the 35 deals signed in 2024. This echoes reports made by fellow analyst LevelTen Energy last week, with director Plácido Ostos telling PV Tech Premium that the most recent quarter of energy trading demonstrates considerable stabilisation in the solar PPA space.
The top two deals, signed in August, in terms of capacity were also for solar projects, with Zelestra and three pharmaceutical companies signing a PPA for a 161.4MW solar project, and four pharmaceutical firms acquiring 118MW of power from four solar projects.
September was also a notable month for multi-buyer PPAs, led by these large deals. In Denmark, for instance, 25 local corporates signed a multi-buyer five-year solar PPA to acquire power from a 12MW project in Mesballe, Djursland; while the capacity of the project is on the smaller side, the sheer number of buyers involved in this deal has set a new standard for multi-party involvement in an offtake agreement.
