Chapelcross Solar Farm

Tender description

The contracting authority, Nuclear Restoration Services Limited (“NRS”) will be entering into a 40-year lease and power purchase agreement (with an option to terminate the arrangement at 25 years) with a special purpose vehicle named Chapelcross Energy Project Limited (“CEPL”) relating to land at NRS’ site at the former Chapelcross nuclear power station which has been defueled and is being decommissioned. NRS is contracting with CEPL as nominated and wholly owned by Green Energy International Limited (“GEIL”) on the basis of Regulation 32 of the Public Contracts Regulation 2015. Lot 1: The contracting authority, Nuclear Restoration Services Limited (“NRS”) will be entering into a 40-year lease and power purchase agreement (with an option to terminate the arrangement at 25 years) with a special purpose vehicle named Chapelcross Energy Project Limited (“CEPL”) relating to land at NRS’ site at the former Chapelcross nuclear power station which has been defueled and is being decommissioned (the “Site”). CEPL is wholly owned by Green Energy International Limited (“GEIL”) and intends to develop the Jockstown Fam solar farm which is adjacent to the Site. <br/><br/>In 2019 NRS began exploring options for a solar farm development at the Site. Following various technical and commercial studies which considered grid connection availability, NRS identified that the only commercially and technically feasible option which could guarantee the necessary grid connection was by contracting with CEPL. This is because GEIL currently holds the grid connection, which will be novated across to CEPL in order for CEPL to develop the Site. <br/><br/>The technical and commercial reports revealed no reasonable alternative options. As such on 29.11.21 NRS commenced formal negotiations with GEIL as the ultimate owner of CEPL pursuant to Regulation 32 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. Such negotiations have continued throughout the intervening period and NRS now intends to contract with CEPL by way of a lease and related power purchase agreement. Both agreements are necessary to achieve NRS’s requirements, and it is not possible to sever these agreements for this reason. <br/><br/>The purpose of the lease is to enable CEPL to construct a – 10MW solar energy farm on the Chapelcross site, in parallel with the Jockstown Farm solar farm, and under the power purchase agreement NRS will agree to purchase an amount of electricity from that on site solar farm development which will be used to power the Chapelcross site, and any surplus will be netted off other NES sites demand via an electricity sleeving arrangement with EDF (NOTE the EDF arrangement is a separately procured arrangement (through a CCS framework) which is not the subject of this VEAT).<br/><br/>NRS will not enter into the contract until a period of at least 10 calendar days has passed following publication of the notice.