Wicklow County Council County Buildings, is the headquarters and main offices of Wicklow County Council, located at Station Road in Wicklow Town. It has a floor area of 5533m2 . A detailed energy audit[MR1] of the building carried out in 2018 recommended the installation of a 300kWp Solar PV array, sized to 40% of the building’s electricity load. On further analysis, the only site suitable for an array of this size is the public Car Park along station road and so a Solar Car Port installation was selected as the best option.
Part 8 Planning permission was received in 2019 for the installation of the solar car park.
The Contract
WCC used an open procedure to award this contract for a local energy supply agreement through the provision of a car port solar PV system.
The form of Contract is in the form of the Local Energy Supply Contract (LESC). The successful tenderer, known as the Energy Services Company (ESCO) will meet the capital cost of the equipment, install the works and will supply the energy to Wicklow County Council for use in County Buildings. The ESCO will be paid for the quantity of energy supplied over the term of the contract, 20 years. There is an option to extend this term at the end of the 20 years to a maximum potential duration of a further five years, on an annual basis or as negotiated by the parties. Wicklow County Council also reserves the right to a buy-out of all equipment before the end of the contract period.
Specification of Requirements
WCC will enter into a LESC which provides a fixed unit rate chage (c/kWh) for all electricity produced by the system over a 20 year period.
The LESC or Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) will be entered into between WCC and the successful tenderer, for electricity being produced on-site by a 300kWp solar photovoltaic system installed on a car port structure covering circa 100 car park spaces and circa 1600m2 at County Buildings.
The successful tenderer is to provide all financing for the installation, commissioning and maintenance of the system and car port structures over the lifetime of the contract. The system will remain in the ownership of the successful tenderer throughout the duration of the contract (except in the event of early termination) with WCC agreeing to pay for all electricity being produced by the solar PV system over the 20 year lifetime of the contract.
WCC has undertaken a feasibility study on the solar PV system and has selected a site which has been calculated as being capable of supporting 300kWp of solar PV panels based on c. 1600m2 of panels. All energy will be consumed on site (no-export to national grid). The car park has almost unfettered southern exposure all day long.
