L R AS Published on Monday 8 July 2019 - n° 284 - Categories:purchase/sale contracts
MaxSolar's experience with purchase contracts
The managing director of the German company MaxSolar is studying the implementation of two purchase contracts: one of 0.5 MW with the client Pantograph. The other comprises two solar parks with a total capacity of 10 MW with Offtaker. Despite the
surcharge, the company believes it can obtain higher revenues with a purchase contract than with a tender.
In the two current projects, MaxSolar has concluded contracts with companies via the network. Banks appreciate the free market more than individual customers. Going through the network is a guarantee of reliability and the possibility of replacement in the event of customer failure.
Of course, there is a great deal of uncertainty about the future development of electricity prices. This applies to both signatories. Therefore MaxSolar does not enter into contracts with a term of more than 5 years, a term which is appreciated by the banks.
Purchase contracts will develop because many companies have not yet realised that energy will cost them a lot of money if they are not careful about their CO2 emissions. It's not just a question of generating and buying energy, but also of storing and capping the peak load. The long-term stabilisation of energy costs is becoming increasingly important. MaxSolar sees great potential in the 1 to 3 MW range, as it knows how to do this, and there is a lot of potential for installations in this power range, for example on rooftops.
SolarServer from 24 June
Editor's note If you look at the time of the conclusion of the contract, the five-year term is a good one, because you can count on a rise in the price of electricity from the network. The subsequent price will depend on the development of the kilowatt-hour price on the free market. This provides greater scope for adjusting prices at the end of the term.
For us, the major difficulty with these five-year contracts is the price competition for newly built power plants. These will have a lower cost price than older plants. The customer will have the choice between a new power station with a very low price and an old power station with a higher cost price that cannot be lowered because depreciation must be included in the prices. What will the owners of power plants built in the past do then?
