Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised Octopus Energy Generation and BayWa r.e. on the drafting and negotiation of two major corporate power purchase agreements (“CPPAs”) with SNCF Énergie to supply renewable electricity to SNCF Voyageurs for its rail operations.
Octopus Energy Generation and BayWa r.e. inaugurate their first CPPAs in France with this transaction. With two solar plants, “Greenberry” and “Fontenet 3”, developed by BayWa r.e. and owned by Octopus Energy Generation, expected to generate over 100 GWh annually, this partnership will allow the production of 2.5 TWh of renewable energy during the 25-year duration of the CPPAs.
UK-headquartered Octopus Energy Generation operates a £7bn renewables portfolio as well as EV leasing, heat pump and solar projects across 27 countries. This transaction is part of Octopus Energy Generation’s rapid expansion in France, which manages over 500 MW of solar and wind projects and supplies energy to over 600,000 households.
BayWa r.e. is a global renewable energy company specialising in the planning, development, construction and management of wind and solar farms, and battery storage systems, as well as energy trading. BayWa r.e. has commissioned 6+ GW of renewable energy projects and manages 10.5+ GW of assets.
SNCF Énergie is a subsidiary of SNCF Voyageurs, France’s national railway company. SNCF Voyageurs aims at covering 40% to 50% of its train electricity needs with renewables by 2030, including 20% of those through CPPAs. The company has developed this type of contracts since 2018 and this transaction brings SNCF Voyageurs closer to its sustainable development objectives.
The WFW Paris Regulatory and Public Law team that advised Octopus Energy Generation and BayWa r.e. was led by Partner Laurent Battoue, supported by Senior Associate Juliana Brandao Marques.
Laurent commented: “After advising RES and Valorem on the signing of several long term CPPAs with SNCF Énergie, we are pleased to further participate with BayWa r.e. and Octopus Energy Generation in this major step toward SNCF’s sustainability goal of accelerating the decarbonisation of rail transport. The quality of the relationship between the parties and bringing our expertise in negotiating large-scale green CPPAs have enabled the successful completion of this transaction initiated and signed in just three months”.
