London Boroughs

2 April 2020: Following on from plans set out in July 2019, and a climate emergency declaration made in June 2019, Hackney have now announced the council will be sourcing all of its electricity supplies from renewable generation. Hackney’s press release sets out that its annual £6.5m electricity bill will now go to “electricity sourced from wind and solar power”.

The Council’s strategy is to shift its energy supplies to fully renewable sources, initially via green tariffs linked to Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) – which today’s announcement relates to – with an ambition to move to supporting the development of new/additional renewable energy supplies by the council entering into longer term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) (ie rather than sourcing green electricity from the power market, directly investing in new renewable generation through a long-term contract).

A July 2019 article by the Hackney Gazette sets out that: “Cllr Jon Burke (Lab, Woodberry Down), cabinet member for energy, laid out further ambitions to decarbonise the council’s gas demand on top of its electricity. He is also aiming to secure a contract to purchase renewable energy directly, going beyond the current arrangement which sees Hackney’s energy come with certification guaranteeing it as renewable.

“Cllr Burke said: “Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin certificates (REGOs) are a major step forward for the council in delivering our 2018 manifesto commitment to transform the way we purchase wholesale energy to increase the generation of renewable energy beyond Hackney’s borders by using our corporate spending on gas and electricity to increase investment in sources of clean energy. However, we want to go a step further by securing a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with a specific generation facility.”

A Hackney Council procurement meeting in September 2019 included a paper which provides some further details on the contract:

• As part of the Mayor and Council’s commitment to rapidly decarbonising the full functions of the local authority, the Council switched to a minimum of 50% renewable electricity on 1 April 2019. This next step will see the Council secure 100% renewable electricity through the purchase of Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin Certificates (REGO).

• The natural next step in the process beyond 1 April 2020 will be to explore the potential for a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with a specific generation facility. …Securing such an agreement…would demonstrate in a very visible way to the residents of Hackney that our corporate spending on renewables is contributing to the delivery of new sources of clean energy, rather than merely sending a signal to the market that more renewable energy is required, which is the role that the purchase of REGO certificates performs.

Suppliers awarded have not been announced – but an October 2019 procurement paper sets out the sums awarded (point 7).