By Paul Homewood
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC350248/filing-history
When I looked at Beatrice’s Accounts the other day, I noticed an anomaly that stuck out like a sore thumb. As I have been away cycling for a couple of days, I wanted to recheck my calculations again.
Below is the the statement of electricity output for the last two years for which Accounts have been filed:
Output for y/e March 2022 was slightly down on y/e March 2021. But when we crosscheck with the output which was declared to the Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC) for CfD purposes, the figure is much lower at 1533.6 GWh. In contrast the 2021 figures submitted to the LCCC were almost identical, 2142 GWh v 2147.4 GWh. There may of course be slight differences caused by lags in timing. Incidentally the figures for y/e 2020 also reconciled closely with the LCCC.
John Constable’s data at the Renewable Energy Foundation also confirms the lower figure of 1533 GWh.
The suspicion therefore is that some of Beatrice’s output, amounting to 551.1 GWh, has not been declared to the LCCC, and sold on the open market at a profit, which should have been repaid to the LCCC. The numbers confirm this suspicion:
The revenue for y/e 2022 is £392.9 million, and works out at an average of £188.47/MWh. Yet the strike price for 2021/22 was only £164.73/MWh. (Strike prices are indexed each year on 1st April, so should reconcile with the Annual Accounts ).
The revenue relating to the 1533 GWh declared for CfD = £252.6 million, leaving an additional £140.3 million earned from the “missing” 551 GWh. This missing chunk works out at an average of £254.58/MWh, which was a typical average market price for much of that year.
The Accounts, by the way, make it abundantly clear that there is no other source of revenue – it all comes from either the sale of electricity or subsidies from CfDs:
If that additional 551 GWh had been sold at the strike price of £164.73, Beatrice would have made about £50 million profit.
I will submit an FOI the LCCC asking them if they are aware of this discrepancy, what explanation they have for it and what they intend to do about it.
In the meantime, if anybody has any bright ideas to explain it, let me know!
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May 5, 2023 at 09:10AM
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