Councillor James Stoneman (Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Governance) introduced the item and highlighted:-

a)    The VPPA was an important step forward for the Council on the project;

b)    The agreement would protect the Council from future volatility in the marker for 20 years;

c)    The item had been on the agenda at the Growth and Infrastructure Overview and Scrutiny Committee in the previous week, where an in-depth conversation was had and the recommendations made had been incorporated into the reports for Cabinet.

Cabinet agreed to:

1.    Approve the business case, including the requirement for quarterly monitoring and annual review of the Virtual Power Purchase Agreement; 

2.    To enter into a Virtual Power Purchase Agreement with Chelson Community Solar on the basis set out in the report;  

3.    Delegate authority for negotiation of the terms within the Virtual Power Purchase Agreement to the S151 officer in consultation the monitoring officer;  

4.    Note that the S151 will sign the agreement subject to it not being signed as a deed. Where it is a deed it will be signed by the Monitoring Officer or other authorised signatory.