Metlen Energy and Metals (formerly Mytilineos) has signed six EPC contracts covering a combined 313.4MW of solar and BESS.
The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts cover five solar power plants and one battery energy storage system (BESS), construction of which will begin throughout this year; all six developments are expected to be completed by end of 2026.
Metlen will build the Hulam Solar Park and Sheraton Solar Park, 71MWp and 53MWp respectively, for Lightsource bp, both in Durham. It will also construct AMPYR Solar Europe’s 55MW Scruton Solar Park in Northallerton.
The last three EPC contracts were signed with Aukera Energy and cover its 18.9MW Henley Solar Park in Shropshire, and the 84.5MW Benthead Solar Park in Scotland, along with a co-located 73.3MWh BESS.
Aukera secured a £135 million senior debt facility from Deutsche Bank and Rabobank in March this year, covering five developments including the Benthead solar and BESS project, which is being co-developed by Locogen, and secured a Contract for Difference (CfD) in the sixth allocation round (AR6) in autumn 2024.
Metlen has already delivered the Northwold solar park (10MW) for AMPYR which also saw the firm construct a co-located BESS with storage capacity of 9.8MWh. AMPYR has a power purchase agreement (PPA) for the site, which will provide the energy generated to construction company Multiplex.
Metlen also provided EPC for Pulse Clean Energy’s standalone 73.31MWh Coal Pit BESS.
Metlen operated in the UK as Mytilineos Energy and Metals until June last year, when chairman and CEO Evangelos Mytilineos said the name change showed the company was “motivated and devoted to reaching new heights that a Greek company has never conquered”.
The firm has a portfolio of 85 renewable energy projects completed and under development in the UK, comprising a collective 1.54GW solar and 1.18GWh energy storage.
In June 2024, Metlen passed off three solar PV assets to Schroders Capital’s renewables infrastructure management arm Schroders Greencoat. The 110MW portfolio benefits from a PPA signed by Metlen (then Mytilineos) and Centrica and Vodaphone UK in 2022. The three went on to sign a second PPA covering 232MW.
Metlen secured an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the 373MW Cleve Hill solar project in 2023, overseeing the delivery of the Kent-based project headed by Quinbrook.
NSIP or not
Although Metlen records the two solar plants developed by Lightsource bp as having peak capacities over 50MW, which would give them NSIP status, Lightsource’s portfolio pages for both the Hulam and Sheraton PV plants give 49.9MW as the nameplate capacity.
As reported by Solar Power Portal in 2023, planning for the sites was taken to the UK’s High Court after applications made to Durham and Hartlepool authorities were accepted as valid but refused.
The two planning authorities made a judicial review challenge against appeals to the refusal, with the case deliberating the appropriate planning legislation for utility scale projects, the definition of a “generating station” and other criteria, and the jurisdictional roles of both the secretary of state and the courts in providing clarity on such distinctions. The Court determined that the projects did not comprise an NSIP.
