UK 2026 PPA specialist · Updated monthly

Solar Power Purchase Agreements — zero capital, predictable rates

The UK specialist directory of solar PPAs for commercial off-takers. We match your site to vetted PPA providers, return an indicative p/kWh tariff within one working day, and help you negotiate the term sheet before contracts land in legal. No installer agenda. No provider commission.

  • Six PPA structures explained: on-site, sleeved, virtual, corporate, behind-meter, in-front-of-meter
  • 2026 indicative tariffs: 9–18 p/kWh year 1 (vs grid import 28-32 p/kWh)
  • Minimum site size 50kWp. Sweet spot 100kWp–2MWp. Utility-scale 5MWp+.
  • 15-25 year terms with three end-of-contract pathways
Get an indicative PPA tariff How a PPA works
9pfloor PPA tariff
for large industrials (2026)
13pmedian PPA tariff
for mid-size commercial
−45%typical electricity bill
cut vs grid import
20yrmedian UK PPA term
(range 15-25 yrs)

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Last reviewed 10 July 2026 7 min read By

What is a solar power purchase agreement?

A solar power purchase agreement (PPA) is a long-term contract in which a third-party investor funds, owns and operates a solar PV system on your roof or land — or sleeves it to your site — and sells you the electricity it generates at a fixed price per kWh, typically 30–50% below grid import. You pay nothing upfront and the contract runs 15–25 years.

What are you looking for?

Key PPA terms

A solar PPA sits alongside several related mechanisms — off-taker, escalator, Smart Export Guarantee (SEG), REGO certificates, sleeving and Contracts for Difference (CfD). Our 78-term glossary defines each in plain English.

Independent editorial guidance. For the wider policy context see the Solar Energy UK trade body and Ofgem; tariff figures on this site are indicative and reviewed monthly.

How a solar PPA works — 5 steps

Step 1

Indicative tariff

We review your annual kWh, roof or land, postcode irradiation and DNO context and return an indicative p/kWh tariff and term within 1–2 weeks.

Step 2

Site survey & heads of terms

The provider's EPC contractor surveys the roof, electrics and DNO capacity; a non-binding term sheet sets tariff, escalator, term and off-taker covenant.

Step 3

Full contract

The long-form PPA executes alongside the EPC and O&M agreements — typical off-taker legal cost £8k–£25k on a mid-size deal.

Step 4

Build & commission

The EPC contractor installs over 6–16 weeks; DNO connection, commissioning and MCS certification follow.

Step 5

Operate

From commissioning you pay the PPA tariff for every kWh generated; the provider handles O&M, insurance and monitoring. After 15–25 years you extend, buy at fair value, or have the system removed.

PPA Mechanics

The mechanics you need to understand before signing

A solar PPA is a 20-year commitment. The structure, tariff, escalator, term, off-taker covenant requirement, EPC quality and M&V protocols all determine whether you save 20% or 50% of your electricity bill.

Solar PPA Structures Explained

Not all PPAs are alike. The structure that fits depends on whether you own the roof, how many sites you operate, your treasury sophistication and whether you ne…

Solar PPA Pricing: 2026 Benchmark Tariffs

PPA tariffs are quoted in pence per kilowatt-hour. In 2026 the indicative range across the UK market is 9–22 p/kWh year-1 — well below the 28–32 p/kWh that most…

Solar PPA Escalators: Fixed, RPI or CPI?

An escalator is the annual % uplift baked into your PPA tariff. Get the escalator wrong and a 25-year contract that looks cheap in year 1 ends up costing more t…

End-of-Contract Options on a Solar PPA

Solar panels routinely produce for 30+ years; PPAs run 15-25 years. So what happens at the end? Three standard pathways, each with different financial implicati…

All 10 mechanics deep-dives

2026 PPA rates

UK solar PPA tariffs start from 9p/kWh

Most mid-size on-site deals land 11–15 p/kWh year-1, versus 28–32 p/kWh grid import — a 40–70% cut on every self-consumed unit. The full 2026 rate index breaks tariffs down by structure, system size and sector.

See 2026 PPA rates & tariffs Calculate my saving

Six PPA structures

One product family. Six different structures.

The right structure depends on whether you own the roof, how many sites you operate, your treasury sophistication and what mix of cheap kWh / REGO certificates / asset-ownership flexibility you want.

15–25 years

On-site PPA

Generator installs and owns kit on your roof or land; you buy the kWh.

Tariff: 9–18 p/kWh year 1
Best for: Single-site businesses with 200kWp+ of roof or land, occupying for 15+ years.…

10–15 years

Sleeved PPA

Generator builds at a separate location; an electricity supplier 'sleeves' the energy to your MPAN.

Tariff: 11–20 p/kWh year 1 (excludes supplier markup)
Best for: Multi-site businesses, tenants without roof rights, or sites with poor solar resource.…

10–15 years

Virtual (synthetic) PPA

Financial contract-for-difference referencing a wholesale price — you don't take physical delivery.

Tariff: Strike price typically £45–£55/MWh fixed
Best for: Large corporates with treasury sophistication; net-zero commitments; multi-jurisdiction op…

10–20 years

Corporate PPA (CPPA)

Direct bilateral agreement with a generator — can be physical or financial, on-site or off-site.

Tariff: £42–£60/MWh fixed or partially indexed
Best for: Investment-grade off-takers signing 20MW+ utility-scale solar farm output.…

15–25 years

Behind-the-meter PPA

Variant of on-site PPA where generation sits inside your private wire; never touches the public grid.

Tariff: 8–14 p/kWh year 1 (lowest tariff band — no grid charges)
Best for: Industrial sites with 1MWp+ load coincident with daytime generation.…

10–20 years

In-front-of-meter PPA

Generation exports to the grid; you receive the kWh via your supply meter under an export-and-import structure.

Tariff: 13–22 p/kWh (higher because of network use-of-system charges)
Best for: Sites with roof but limited daytime self-consumption.…

Full structure comparison

Sectors

UK PPA mechanics by sector

Every sector has a different load profile, roof typology and covenant strength. We've mapped 2026 indicative PPA terms across ten major UK commercial sectors.

Hotels & Hospitality

System size: 100–500kWp
PPA tariff: 12–16 p/kWh
Annual saving: £12k–£90k

Schools & Education

System size: 50–250kWp
PPA tariff: 13–17 p/kWh
Annual saving: £5k–£40k

Hospitals & NHS

System size: 250kWp–2MWp
PPA tariff: 11–15 p/kWh
Annual saving: £40k–£320k

Farms & Agriculture

System size: 100kWp–5MWp
PPA tariff: 10–14 p/kWh (ground-mount cheaper)
Annual saving: £8k–£500k

Retail Estate

System size: 100kWp–2MWp
PPA tariff: 12–16 p/kWh
Annual saving: £15k–£250k

Care Homes

System size: 30–150kWp
PPA tariff: 14–18 p/kWh
Annual saving: £3k–£25k

All sectors + sub-verticals

Compare

PPA vs the alternatives

A PPA isn't always the right answer. If you have capital, a 20-year occupancy horizon and the appetite to manage operations, buying outright wins on lifetime cost. We compare PPA head-to-head with every realistic alternative.

All comparisons

The UK solar PPA market in 2026

Corporate demand for solar power purchase agreements has moved from niche to mainstream, and 2026 is shaping up as an inflection point for the UK commercial market. Three structural forces are converging at once: binding decarbonisation obligations, sustained grid-price volatility, and mounting pressure from customers and investors to cut Scope 3 emissions across supply chains.

Why corporate PPA demand is surging

On the policy side, the UK's net-zero-by-2050 target is written into law, and the reporting regimes beneath it — SECR, ESOS and voluntary science-based targets — now oblige most mid-to-large organisations to measure and reduce operational emissions. On-site solar under a PPA is one of the few levers that lowers reported carbon and the electricity bill at the same time, with no capital outlay.

Cost is the second driver. Since the 2022 wholesale energy shock, commercial import prices have stayed both elevated and unpredictable, frequently sitting in the high-20s to low-30s pence per kWh once non-commodity charges are included. A PPA replaces a slice of that volatile import with a contracted, on-site rate that is typically well below grid — our current 2026 PPA pricing and tariff bands set out indicative figures.

The third force is regulatory pressure on buildings and supply chains. The proposed tightening of Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) would raise the minimum EPC rating a landlord needs to let commercial space — a trajectory widely expected to reach EPC B for non-domestic property by 2030, with interim milestones before then (exact timelines remain subject to government confirmation). In parallel, large corporate buyers with their own science-based targets increasingly ask suppliers to evidence decarbonisation, turning rooftop solar from a ‘nice to have’ into a condition of tender.

The scale of the commercial rooftop opportunity

The government's stated ambition is to roughly quadruple UK solar capacity to around 70GW by 2035, and commercial rooftops — warehouses, factories, distribution sheds and retail parks — represent a large share of the untapped potential. These are precisely the sites where a PPA works best: high daytime consumption, large unshaded roof area, and a creditworthy occupier able to sign a 15-to-25-year off-take.

Where PPAs fit versus CfD and utility-scale

It helps to separate two different worlds. Government-backed Contracts for Difference (CfD) underwrite utility-scale generation feeding the national grid, and are not something an individual business signs. A corporate solar PPA is the opposite: a private, bilateral contract for generation on — or sleeved to — your own site, giving one organisation a fixed, below-grid rate for the power its own roof produces. To weigh that against buying a system outright or leasing, our funding comparison sets the options side by side, and when you are ready you can request an indicative tariff and we will match your site to vetted providers.

Common misconceptions about solar PPAs

Solar PPAs are widely misunderstood, partly because the same three letters describe several different structures. Clearing up the common misconceptions is usually the fastest way to work out whether the model fits your organisation.

The claimThe reality
“A PPA means you own the panels.”No. The provider funds, owns, insures and maintains the system; you simply buy the electricity it generates at an agreed p/kWh. Ownership can often transfer at the end of the term or via a buy-out — but during the contract the asset, and its performance risk, sit with the provider.
“The tariff is fixed for the whole contract.”Rarely. Most agreements apply an annual escalator — a fixed percentage or an index such as CPI or RPI — so the rate rises modestly each year. The starting rate, the escalator and any cap are all negotiable; see how they interact in our pricing and escalator guide.
“Any business qualifies.”Not quite. Providers underwrite the off-taker, so there are practical floors on covenant strength, lease length, roof size and annual consumption. Weaker covenants or short leases can still work, but they shape the terms — this is covered in our note on off-taker covenant strength.
“A PPA is just a lease by another name.”They are different instruments. Under a lease you pay a fixed rent to use the equipment and carry the output risk; under a PPA you pay only for metered generation and the provider carries the performance risk. The funding comparison shows how the cash flows and risk actually differ.
“Every provider offers roughly the same deal.”Terms vary widely — headline rate, escalator basis, contract length, end-of-term options, maintenance scope and metering all differ between providers. Comparing several offers on a like-for-like basis is where most of the value is won; that is what our provider matching is for.
“Once you sign, you're locked in with no way out.”Long-term, yes; inescapable, no. Well-drafted agreements include buy-out schedules, ownership-transfer options and defined early-termination terms. The time to negotiate these is before the term sheet reaches legal, not after.

If any of these points changes how you were thinking about a PPA, the sensible next step is an indicative tariff for your specific site. Request a no-obligation quote and we will return an indicative p/kWh rate within one working day.

Market reference

Notable UK corporate solar PPAs

Off-takerSectorStructureWhat's publicly reported
AmazonLogistics / data centresCorporate PPAs (multiple)Repeatedly reported as the world's largest corporate buyer of renewable energy, with a portfolio of UK and European solar and wind PPAs.
TescoRetail / supermarketsCorporate solar PPAsHas publicly contracted large-scale UK solar generation via long-term corporate PPAs as part of its net-zero programme.
Sainsbury'sRetail / supermarketsCorporate solar PPAPublicly committed to sourcing renewable electricity through power purchase agreements with UK solar developers.
Marks & SpencerRetailCorporate renewable PPAPart of M&S 'Plan A' net-zero commitments, sourcing renewable power via long-term agreements.
Nestlé UKFood & drink manufacturingCorporate solar/wind PPAPublicly reported renewable PPAs covering UK manufacturing operations.
IKEA / IngkaRetailOn-site + corporate PPALong-running renewable strategy combining on-site solar with off-site corporate PPAs across its UK estate.

Publicly reported from each company's own sustainability disclosures — market reference only; we are not party to these deals.

Case studies

What 2026 deals look like

Ten anonymised composite case studies based on real UK PPA deals signed in 2025-2026. Numbers verified against provider tariff sheets.

All 10 case studies

UK industry accreditations our installer-partner panel holds

MCSCERTIFIED NICEICAPPROVED RECCMEMBER TRUSTMARKGOVT ENDORSED HIESCONSUMER CODE OFGEMSEG REGISTERED

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FAQs

UK Solar PPA — Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)?

A solar PPA is a long-term contract under which a third-party investor funds, owns and operates a solar PV system on your roof or sleeved to your site. You pay nothing upfront; you buy the kilowatt-hours generated at a pre-agreed tariff that is typically 30-50% below grid import. UK PPAs run for 15-25 years and end with three options: extend, buy at fair market value, or have the system removed. See how a PPA works for the full mechanics.

How much can I save with a solar PPA in 2026?

For a UK commercial site importing at 28-32 p/kWh, a typical on-site PPA delivers a year-1 tariff of 11-15 p/kWh — savings of 13-21 p/kWh on every self-consumed unit. For a 250kWp system generating around 237,500 kWh/yr, that's roughly £35,000-£50,000 of year-1 saving. Run your specific numbers in the PPA calculator.

Who provides solar PPAs in the UK?

The UK PPA market in 2026 is split between specialist solar funds (Atrato, Foresight, Bluefield, NextEnergy), corporate-PPA aggregators (Statkraft, Centrica Business Solutions, EDF, Engie), and bilateral counterparties between independent power producers (Lightsource bp, Ørsted, RWE) and large corporates. We aren't tied to any provider — see our guide to UK PPA providers and how to choose, or send your site profile and we'll return a vetted shortlist within one working day.

What is the minimum system size for a PPA?

Providers generally won't quote below 50kWp because the build-cost-per-Wp economics don't work. The sweet spot is 100-1,000 kWp (mid-commercial). Below 50kWp, asset finance or cash purchase typically beats PPA. Above 5MWp you're into corporate-PPA structures with materially different mechanics.

Can I have a PPA if I rent my building?

Yes — if you have at least 15 years of remaining lease. Most PPA providers require lease term ≥ PPA term. If you have less than 15 years tenure, a sleeved PPA (generation elsewhere, sleeved to your meter via a supplier) is the workaround.

What happens at the end of a PPA contract?

Three options: (a) extend at a re-negotiated lower tariff (year-25 panels still produce 88% of original capacity), (b) buy the system at fair market value (typically 10-25% of original capex), or (c) have the provider remove the system at no cost. See our end-of-contract deep-dive.

How long does a PPA take to set up?

From first call to commissioning typically 6-12 months: 2-4 weeks for indicative tariff, 4-8 weeks for site survey and heads-of-terms, 8-12 weeks for full contract negotiation, 6-16 weeks for build. Larger systems take longer because DNO connection studies (G99/G100 applications) add 3-6 months.

Are PPA tariffs negotiable?

Yes — especially for systems above 250kWp and investment-grade off-takers. Tariff, escalator type, term length, performance ratio guarantee, end-of-contract options and assignment-on-sale clauses are all on the table during heads of terms. We help off-takers know what to push on.

What's the difference between a PPA and a lease?

A PPA charges you per kWh generated; a lease charges a fixed monthly amount regardless of generation. Under IFRS 16 a lease typically goes on-balance-sheet; a PPA can stay off-balance-sheet if structured carefully. PPA shifts performance risk to the provider; lease keeps it with you. See our PPA vs lease comparison.

Can charities, schools and councils use solar PPAs?

Yes — though public sector procurement rules apply. For schools and councils, PPAs typically run 25 years and require either a Crown guarantor structure or full procurement under PCR 2015 / PA 2023. The PSDS grant route is often cheaper if you can secure funding, but PPAs are faster to deploy. See schools PPAs.

Further reading: Comparing outright ownership against a power purchase agreement is easier with a commercial solar PPA specialist that publishes regional cost and payback data.

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