80 kW PPA on a 180-Bed Edinburgh City-Centre Hostel
- System size
- 80 kW
- Annual saving
- £14,500
- Payback
- Zero capex
- Location
- Edinburgh
Modelled worked example — the figures below are built from sourced 2026 UK cost and generation benchmarks for a property of this profile, not a claimed client project.
The hotel
A 180-bed branded city-centre hostel in Edinburgh’s New Town, serving festival, conference, and year-round budget tourism demand. Listed Building Consent Category B (equivalent to Grade II) Georgian conversion. Annual electricity spend £155,000. Tight operating margins typical of the hostel segment ruled out capex-funded solar.
The brief
Deploy solar with zero capex from the operator. Integrate generation data with the parent brand’s group sustainability platform. Maintain Category B Listed Building Consent compliance across the Georgian conversion.
The modelled system
80 kW PPA-funded rooftop array on the rear-facing tenement roof — Category B Listed Building Consent secured in 12 weeks with City of Edinburgh Council Conservation Team pre-application engagement. PPA structured at £0.095/kWh fixed tariff with annual RPI uplift over 20 years. Brand-group monitoring platform API integration. SP Energy Networks G99 connection in 14 weeks.
The numbers at year one
- Annual generation: 74,000 kWh
- Self-consumption: 88%
- Year-1 PPA saving: £14,500 (£0.30 grid retail vs £0.095 PPA × 65,000 kWh self-consumed)
- Capex from operator: £0
- Day-one operating cashflow positive
- Brand group sustainability scoring up 9 points
- Featured in Booking.com Travel Sustainable Level 3 status
Quote in 7 working days
Check solar feasibility for your hotel
Free desk-based feasibility from your half-hourly meter data. Fixed-price proposal within 7 working days. All funding routes modelled — PPA, AIA, hire purchase, lease. Listed Building Consent and brand engineering included.
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- ✓ All funding routes modelled (PPA, AIA, hire purchase, operating lease)
- ✓ Listed Building Consent and Hilton/IHG/Marriott/Accor brand engineering included