Octopus Case Study
About the Octopus Renewables Project
Kiwa Moroni has been engaged by Octopus Renewables to execute vendor technical advisory service aimed to issue a detailed vendor technical due diligence to be shared with the potential buyers of the 173 MW portfolio, consisting of 17 photovoltaic plants located in Italy: Nine plants are located in Lazio, and eight are located in Sardinia.
At the end of the sale process the photovoltaic portfolio has been acquired by A2A, an Italian multi-utility company. A2A generates, distributes, and markets renewable energy, electricity, gas, integrated water supply, and waste management services.
Why is the Octopus Renewables Project Happening?
Under this vendor due diligence process, Kiwa Moroni, in order to increase the value of the projects, evaluated the implementation of technical upsides to optimize the revenues streams of the photovoltaic plants subject to the sale process.
In particular, the implementation of green hydrogen production system, coupled with the photovoltaic plants subject to sale, has been evaluated by Kiwa Moroni and presented to the potential buyers under the vendor technical due diligence report.
What is the Octopus Renewables Project?
Kiwa Moroni was commissioned to conduct technical due diligence and feasibility study in relation to the possibility to have hydrogen production plants using green energy from the photovoltaic plants.
The feasibility study took into consideration several aspects such as the location of the photovoltaic plants, the distance of the PV plants from the dispatching point of the national gas grid, the space availability for the installation of hydrogen production plants inside the PV plants borders and the maximum yield obtainable on the retail market of hydrogen and oxygen, in the absence of incentives and momentary impossibility of inserting hydrogen in the existing methane gas networks. It has been hypothesized to create modular hydrogen and oxygen production solutions for sub-clusters, considering the issue of scalability, starting from a basic alkaline electrolysis module with a nominal capacity of 2.5MW.
What should be the outcome of the project?
The purpose of the service was the evaluation of a scenario in which the energy yield of the photovoltaic systems in the portfolio was totally or partially used for the production of hydrogen and oxygen, through the water electrolysis process.
The outcome consists in a preliminary feasibility study including considerations related to the permitting, to the technology and to the potential market with a preliminary estimation of the main economics parameters of the initiative.
The Role of Kiwa
Kiwa Moroni acted as Vendor Technical Advisor and, in relation to the upsides due to the green hydrogen production, executed the following activities:
- Feasibility studies on production of green hydrogen
- Electrolysers technology review
- Analysis of water availability
- Preliminary permitting review
- Preliminary market review
- Assessment of revenues and financial model