VERA Group has recently supported the owner of an onshore wind turbine project to recommission and recontract a site in East Anglia.

“The wind farm had experienced a number of technical, commercial, and contractual difficulties and as such had been non-operational for a number of years. We wished to work with a partner who would help get the site operational and revenue generating, and so we approached VERA Group for support. The broad skill set and deep understanding of the industry within VERA Group was exactly what we needed.”

East Anglia wind farm owner

The project utilised the skills of three VERA partners in a value sharing capacity with the owner, where a fee, in the form of a share of the profits, would only be earned from the site once it was generating again. VERA Group produced an economic assessment of the viability of the project and considered risks and potential upsides through a financial model. A simple agreement was put in place that incentivised maximisation of revenue and shared upside.

“An initial site technical inspection revealed that though the turbines were in generally good condition, some of the original commissioning work had been left incomplete. The VERA Group put in place a recommissioning and maintenance agreement. The turbines were recommissioned, further technical issues were resolved, and the turbines restarted.”

Jon Stamp, VERA Group Partner

VERA Group also liaised with Ofgem to resolve outstanding queries in relation to the FiT and REGO accreditation for the site. This involved a deep understanding of the accreditation rules and provision of complex data to secure these important revenue streams.

A new PPA was agreed with an import agreement that aimed to maximise the income from the prevailing high power prices at the time. The PPA structure is ideal for a recommissioning site such as this as it balances price and volume risk.

“The site had been disconnected and de-energised, and so a new connection agreement was required, with new metering and witness testing for the newer G99 standard. The VERA Group led on obtaining the connection agreement, liaising with the distribution company, and put a new Meter Operator Agreement in place. New meters were installed and registered, and new MPANs were obtained.”

Keith Munday, VERA Group Partner

Additionally, improved connectivity has been implemented such that the turbines can be observed, monitored, analysed, and controlled remotely, as well as the meters being read. This helps with site security and rapid fault diagnosis and remedy.

The owner was carrying a substantial sunk cost that was not being recovered but now has an operational asset that is starting to provide a return. There is still further work to do to improve reliability and enhance the commercial position, but VERA Group has proved to be an ideal partner for this project due to our substantial industry experience, the aligned incentives and our willingness to accept a fair risk/reward profile that suits the asset owner.

“It has been a real pleasure to work with the owner to resolve what had seemed to be intractable problems and deliver a successful project.”

Jon Stamp, VERA Group Partner

At VERA Group, our Partners, who are all experts in their field with years of real-world experience, offer flexible, practical, solutions to energy sector problems.

For details of how VERA Group can help your energy project with technical, commercial and/ or contractual difficulties, please contact:

Jon Stamp

Keith Munday

Mike Luxon