Annie Scanlan, Managing Director of the RE-Source Platform, looks at what a major renewables deal says about where energy procurement trends are heading.
Amid increasingly unpredictable times for European electricity markets, the business case for long-term energy agreements has rarely been stronger. Corporate power purchase agreements (cPPAs) give companies greater electricity price certainty, helping them manage price volatility while supporting their decarbonisation goals. And the PPA market is evolving. As renewables play a larger role in the energy mix, buyers and sellers are looking at how different assets such as wind and solar can be combined to add flexibility and value. Repsol, an energy supplier based in Madrid, this summer announced nine 12-year virtual power purchase agreements (VPPA) with Bimbo Group, the world’s largest baking company, covering around 150 GWh a year. A VPPA is a financial agreement where renewable electricity is sold into the market at an agreed price. The deal is equivalent to 100% of Bimbo’s electricity consumption across 18 production sites in Spain, Portugal, France and Italy.
What’s new in this PPA
What makes this deal interesting is how the nine VPPAs are combining wind and solar capacity in Spain. By pairing both assets, generation is spread across more hours than with either technology alone. It’s a good indication of the market moving towards a portfolio approach which better matches the profile of variable renewable power.
Why hybridisation is getting attention
So what is a hybrid PPA?Hybrid procurement structures combine different assets and technologies: wind, solar, and storage. Weather variability, limited grid capacity or other conditions impacting generation create risks like price cannibalisation and negative pricing. This price volatility impacts the value of the energy generated. Hybridisation gives buyers and sellers more options to manage this. Adding long-duration battery storage adds flexibility, allowing power to be captured for use or dispatch in the evening, when customers are most exposed and price and demand is higher.
A growing market
Spain and the UK are the strongest markets for hybrid structures, but we have also seen momentum in Poland, Romania and Norway. And from a variety of sectors: from energy intensives like steel and aluminium to banking, rail and retail. Carrefour Polska, for example, signed a wind and solar PPA in Poland for around 70 GWh a year. Insulation manufacturer Rockwool and Eurowind Energy signed a 10-year hybrid corporate PPA in February for around 70 GWh a year, sourcing from a Polish wind farm and solar farm. The market is still maturing, but there is growing momentum and significant potential.
And that is exactly why RE-Source exists. Each November we bring together 1,400 decision makers in Amsterdam from across Europe’s renewable energy value chain, to help make more deals like these happen, and support faster decarbonisation. By coming to Amsterdam, you can meet the people who can move your renewables procurement and electrification strategy forward.
Ten years of RE-Source
This year we celebrate RE-Source’s 10-year anniversary, from 3 to 5 November at the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam. With this milestone edition we are celebrating a decade of advancing corporate sourcing by connecting corporate energy buyers with energy suppliers and providing tools and knowledge to navigate their renewable journey.
Three sessions at RE-Source for your diary
Aside from the latest on hybrid deals – what else can you expect at RE-Source 2026?
Energy Buyers Day on 3 November is geared towards one thing: sending you home with tips that you can apply to your own decarbonisation strategy. By meeting peers and attending practical and interactive sessions, we will arm you with the tools to confidently meet potential suppliers over the following two days. Topics covered this year include: renewable procurement basics, AI and energy, long-duration energy storage, scope 3 emissions, and biogas.
Wednesday 4 November kicks off with the matched B2B meetings – think speed dating where you can discuss your site’s energy needs. The conference starts with a session on where the renewables market is heading: “Europe’s PPA market: data and trends” (15:10).
If the Bimbo hybrid deal caught your eye, the next session is for you: “Optimal hedging? The case for hybrid renewables and storage PPAs” (16:30). We’ll unpack how these structures work, why the evening peak is where the hedging value sits, and how energy buyers can implement hybrid deals.
Straight after, don’t miss “System transformation: power grids and demand-side flexibility” (17:30), which turns to grid connections and how industrial energy buyers can make flexibility part of their business case for electrification.
Check out the programme for much more!
Registrations are open now, and it is free for energy buyers – as always.
I hope to see you in Amsterdam.
https://resource-platform.eu/re-source/
This article appeared in the September 2026 issue of Energy Manager magazine. Subscribe here.
