DLA Piper advises NSG Group on their first virtual power purchase agreement
DLA Piper has advised NSG UK Enterprises Limited (NSG), part of NSG Group, the world's leading supplier of glass and glazing systems in the business areas of architectural, automotive and creative technology, on their first virtual power purchase agreement (vPPA).
The vPPA will see NSG partner with EDP Renewables, the world's fourth largest renewable energy producer, for the majority of their electricity demand in Poland and will assist NSG in securing renewable electricity at predictable costs over the long term in a market with a highly carbon intensive grid.
This is the first vPPA by NSG Group and the first PPA signed by a glass manufacturer in Poland. NSG will offtake 51% of the output from the wind farm, which has a total installed capacity of 70 MW. The PPA will have a duration of 10 years, starting in January 2022.
The contract will see approximately 100 gigawatt hours (GWh) of NSG Group’s annual electricity demand supplied at a fixed price reducing exposure to the volatile wholesale electricity prices currently seen. This amount of clean energy is equivalent to avoiding the carbon emissions from nearly 15,000 passenger vehicles driven for one year, or more than 278 million kilometres driven by an average passenger car.
Schneider Electric, the leading advisor on corporate renewable energy procurement globally, supported NSG Group in the selection of and negotiations for the project.
Lead partner, Natasha Luther-Jones, commented “we are delighted to have advised NSG on their first vPPA. Manufacturers have a significant role to play in decarbonisation and I’m delighted that we could support NSG on this step towards achieving their sustainability objectives.”
Other team members included Tom Metcalfe (Associate, Leeds) and Jennifer Keogh (Senior Associate, Leeds) with regulatory input from Andreas Gunst (Partner, London / Vienna) and Kenneth Wallace-Muller (Senior Associate, Vienna / London) and Polish law input from and Lukasz Jankowski (Partner, Warsaw) and Pawel Makaruk (Associate, Warsaw).
