---
type: source
title: "Corporate Solar PPA Market 2012-2016: Demand Activated at Grid Parity, Not Strategic Premium"
author: "Baker McKenzie / market.us / RE-Source Platform"
url: https://www.bakermckenzie.com/-/media/files/insight/publications/2018/07/fc_emi_riseofcorporateppas_jul18.pdf
date: 2018-07-01
domain: energy
secondary_domains: [space-development]
format: report
status: null-result
priority: medium
tags: [solar, PPA, corporate-buyers, parity-mode, gate-2c, demand-formation, history, esgs, hedging]
extraction_model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"
---

## Content

Baker McKenzie's 2018 Corporate PPA report (covering 2012-2017 market history) provides the primary evidence base for 2C-P (parity mode) activation dynamics:

**Market growth trajectory (contracted capacity):**
- 2012: 0.3 GW
- 2013: 1.0 GW
- 2014: 2.3 GW
- 2015: 4.7 GW (nearly 20x growth in 3 years)
- 2016: 4.1 GW (slight decline, then resumed growth)
- By 2016: 100 corporate PPAs signed; 10+ GW total contracted capacity in US alone

**Market activation mechanisms cited:**
1. "Companies could achieve lower cost electricity supply through a PPA" — PPAs at or below grid retail price
2. ESG/sustainability: "improve ESG ratings, reduce carbon footprints, meet renewable energy targets"
3. Price hedging: "hedge against the volatility of retail electricity prices"
4. Long-term price certainty: 10-20 year fixed contracts vs. merchant electricity risk

**Pricing context:**
- Solar PPA prices in 2010: >$100/MWh (above grid in most markets)
- Solar PPA prices in 2015: ~$50-70/MWh (at or below grid in favorable markets)
- Grid electricity (retail commercial): ~$70-100/MWh in the 2012-2016 period
- **Result:** Corporate PPA signers in 2015-2016 were paying AT or BELOW grid parity — not accepting a premium

**Key early movers:** Google (first corporate PPA, 2010, before grid parity), followed by Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Walmart — but the explosive 2015-2016 growth was driven by cost parity, not strategic premium acceptance.

Additional data from market.us (2026): By end of 2022, European corporate PPA market had grown to 26 GW cumulative capacity; 60%+ of US households now have fiber broadband (different sector but same parity-driven adoption dynamic).

## Agent Notes

**Why this matters:** This is the primary evidence for 2C-P mode — the mechanism by which concentrated buyers activate demand at cost parity rather than strategic premium. Understanding WHY early corporate PPA buyers signed (parity + ESG + hedging, NOT strategic premium acceptance) clarifies the structural difference from the nuclear 2C-S case. The solar data demonstrates that 2C-P has a ~1x parity ceiling — buyers don't need a premium justification, but they also won't activate significantly before parity.

**What surprised me:** Google's 2010 PPA was signed before grid parity — suggesting ESG/additionality motives can pull a small number of buyers even above parity (at slight premium). But the mass market activation (2015-2016 growth) only happened when solar reached parity. The early Google signing is a data point about outlier ESG-motivated first movers, not the mechanism for market formation.

**What I expected but didn't find:** Evidence that solar PPA buyers accepted significant premiums (>1.5x) for ESG reasons. The data shows they didn't — they waited for parity or near-parity. Only nuclear (24/7 attribute unavailability) justified the strategic premium. ESG motivation alone does not generate the 2C-S mode.

**KB connections:**
- `2026-03-31-astra-2c-dual-mode-synthesis.md` — this evidence supports the 2C-P mode characterization
- March 30 cost-parity constraint analysis — the solar case is the 2C-P evidence, nuclear is the 2C-S evidence
- Two-gate model: the solar PPA trajectory is the best analogue for how the ODC sector might activate via 2C-P mode

**Extraction hints:**
1. "Corporate concentrated buyer demand (2C-P mode) activates at ~1x cost parity, not before — evidenced by solar PPA market growth exploding only when PPA prices matched or undercut grid electricity in 2015-2016" — confidence: likely (robust market evidence, multiple sources)
2. "ESG motivation alone does not generate concentrated buyer demand formation — the 2015-2016 solar PPA boom required both ESG motivation AND cost parity; ESG-only motivated buyers (Google 2010) are a small early-mover cohort, not the mass activation mechanism"

**Context:** Baker McKenzie's 2018 report is a practitioner survey of the PPA market based on deal data from their energy transaction advisory practice. The GW capacity data is sourced from Bloomberg NEF tracking. This is secondary compilation of deal data rather than primary research.

## Curator Notes (structured handoff for extractor)
PRIMARY CONNECTION: Two-gate model Gate 2C parity mode (2C-P) — this is the cross-domain evidence for 2C-P activation dynamics
WHY ARCHIVED: Provides the empirical grounding for the 2C-P mode characterization. The solar PPA trajectory is the clearest historical case of demand formation at cost parity in a capital-intensive infrastructure sector, directly analogous to what the ODC sector will need to clear.
EXTRACTION HINT: Extract as supporting evidence for the 2C dual-mode claim, not as a standalone claim. The primary claim is about the 2C mechanism structure — this source provides one half of the evidence base (the parity mode). Pair with the Microsoft TMI PPA pricing source (1.8-2x premium mode) for the full claim.
