Transport for London wants renewable power, preps for PPAs

Transport for London (TfL), the government body responsible for the transport system in Greater London, today published a market testing questionnaire outlining its plan to buy power directly from renewable energy generators.

This move is part of the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s ambition to achieve a zero-carbon railway by 2030. The mayor is also considering ways to meet London’s wider public sector electricity consumption with renewables.

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TfL is presently London’s single largest consumer of electricity and one of the largest in the UK. Its annual power requirement amounts to 1.6 TWh and equals the electricity consumed by more than 437,000 households.

The idea is for TfL to shift to power purchase agreements (PPAs) tied to wind and solar parks. This will be done in a phased manner, starting with the purchase of electricity covering 10% of its demand by the spring of 2022, depending on the results of the market testing and subject to certain approvals.

The government body currently sources power directly from the National Grid via the Crown Commercial Service.