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Schools
615kWp PPA Across 7 Schools in a MAT
A 615 kWp solar PPA at 13.5 p/kWh over 25 years delivers a year-1 saving of £62,000 for this schools client.
Anonymisation note
This is an anonymised composite based on three or more comparable UK PPA deals signed 2024-2026. Numbers are accurate to ±10% of real deals; site location and operator details are fictionalised.
| Deal summary | |
|---|---|
| Sector | Schools |
| System size | 615 kWp |
| PPA tariff (year 1) | 13.5 p/kWh |
| Contract term | 25 years |
| Year-1 saving | £62,000 |
An illustrative multi-academy trust
Consider a multi-academy trust running a cluster of primary and secondary schools across South Yorkshire — a representative, anonymised example rather than a specific trust. Its problem was shape as much as size: energy bills had climbed around 65% since 2021, parents and governors were pressing for a credible sustainability story, and the obvious grant route, PSDS, was heavily oversubscribed. Spreading a modest solar capacity across many small roofs is fiddly to finance, which is precisely where an aggregated PPA helps.
One contract, nine roofs
The solution bundled 615 kWp across nine sites — averaging roughly 68 kWp per school — into a single 25-year agreement at 13.5 p/kWh. Because each site carries its own half-hourly meter, the deal used a sleeved structure so the individual supplies could be handled cleanly under one contract. If the sleeving mechanism is unfamiliar, how a PPA works walks through it step by step.
Sizing it against your own bills
For a trust weighing something similar, the maths turns on annual consumption per site and the gap between the PPA rate and the grid tariff. You can sketch that quickly with the savings calculator before approaching providers, and — because a trust is a relatively strong, stable buyer — the terms on offer tend to reflect that, as the covenant strength guide notes.
The result, and two lessons
Across the trust, first-year savings came to around £62,000, and the installations doubled as a teaching resource — feeding into STEM lessons and a favourable sustainability mention at inspection. Two site-level lessons stood out:
- Faculty and diocesan sign-off for two church schools added about nine weeks to the programme.
- A survey found an asbestos roof on one site, which was dropped from the PPA rather than risk the works.
Aggregated school deals live or die on the weakest roof, so survey early.
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