Green energy supplies and renewables are a central element in your net zero journey, with a range of options, costs, technologies and approaches to choose from.
We can inspire your journey to net zero using the route that makes most sense for all stakeholders. It’s likely you will end up with a blended approach to accelerate and achieve net zero in the ways and time frames you want. This mix will change over time.
We are unique in our ability to offer you expertise and resources in onsite generation together with physical and virtual power purchase agreements – in the UK, across Europe and around the world.
Thinks of this as a tiered approach. Some options are relatively fast and lower cost to implement but only provide limited short-term gain. Other options require significant investment but ensure major long-term carbon and cost benefits.
The largest net zero advantage can be gained through your onsite generation, private wire and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). At the other end of the scale, you will almost certainly need to wrap green energy into your supply contracts, use carbon offsets, and get energy certification. We can help you find the right balance.
Our Net Zero Pathway tool provides customised options and indicative costs based on your set-up, preferences and time lines. Our people can also guide you through the different costs, stages and benefits.
A Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) will help you to go greener and achieve your net zero targets, improving your energy security and reducing market price risk.
PPA are long-term agreements between an energy consumer who wants to buy 100% renewable energy and the power producer.
Onsite PPA arrangements
These deliver the greatest benefits. Providing renewable energy with no third party charges, generation assets are physically installed and commissioned “behind” the metering point of an energy consumer and precisely specified to meet a site’s real-life demand and profile.
Industry best practice is to outsource PPAs to a third party who manages a project and ongoing operations.
- Personalised agreements on the amount of electricity supplied, price and governance of supply.
- Long-term price certainty for 5, 10 or 15 years.
- PPAs can be physical where energy physically flows from generator to user or financial where supply is managed through the balancing and settlement system.
- Onsite generation plant are typically funded by the energy consumer and delivered via a turnkey solution with a trusted provider.
- Options include direct wire connections and private wire from adjacent generating plant.
- Excess energy can be sold back to the market.
- Energy can also be sleeved into or offset against an existing energy supply contract.
What do we do?
Our Net Zero Pathway tool enables you to understand how private wire and PPAs fit within your net zero mix. We can then help with planning, evaluating site options, feasibility studies, investment grade audits (IGAs), carbon emission impact reports, analysis of cost savings, Board Packs, project management, network upgrades, funding, and tendering and settlement.
Consultus expertise includes:
- Construction and contracts including access to funding, wayleaves, access rights, title and deeds, operation and maintenance of infrastructure.
- Connection agreements covering how and where projects are hooked-up to the grid.
- Supply agreements including volumes and pricing of energy to be generated or provided, and accounting for the costs of renewable incentive schemes (ROCs, FiTs, REGOs).
- Customer supplier contracts that often need renegotiating based on import of PPA volumes, take or pay clauses, etc. using anticipated generation profile, and balancing risk.
A turnkey solution for onsite generation
Our experience and resources in Energy Resilience means we can provide a complete solution to private wire. This combines world-class design and installation of prime generating equipment with unique trading and energy optimisation services.
Grid access to PPA
This is another type of physical PPA: generation assets do not directly supply an energy consumer but an agreement is made between generator and consumer to buy a set volume of energy. Electricity can be supplied through the normal network and balanced through the settlement system. This option means that generation assets may or may not be close to an energy user’s site.
With no direct connection between generator and energy consumer, this popular flexible option has simpler contractual arrangements than a physical PPA but delivers similar benefits, including green energy and energy security.
In financial PPAs, electricity is not supplied direct from green generating plant to consumer. Instead, the power produced is traded on the wholesale energy market. Electricity is accessed from the grid in the usual way, which means it is still subject to the usual third party charges. Generator and consumer agree a price per kilowatt-hour, as with a physical PPA.
We use numerous world class e-tendering platforms that connect energy consumers with 400+ greener generators, projects and initiatives globally – more options and greater choice in virtual power purchasing.
What do we do?
Our Net Zero Pathway tool enables you to see how virtual agreements fit within your net zero mix. The degree of personalisation is up to you, your energy usage and net zero aspirations.
Our experts can help you understand the market and options available, identify and select initiatives, and provide enhanced strategy support including supplier selection and sleeving within existing supply contracts.
As well as international e-tendering platforms, we directly manage diverse generation projects and assets, offering virtual agreements including the energy produced. Consultus is in the delivery stages of a megawatt solar project in southern England that will come online soon.
Flexible CPPA options open to you
Solo – for energy users in excess of 30 GWh, this virtual option provides the widest variety of project types, with terms from 7-15 years. Choose from numerous technologies and locations to meet your preferences, usage patterns and net zero aspirations, including solar energy, offshore wind farms and tidal power.
Partner – energy consumers using more than 10 GWh are grouped with 2-3 other organisations with complementary usage patterns and renewable project preferences. A diverse range of green generation projects and terms are available.
Club – energy consumers using less than 10 GWh benefit through a shared consortium approach, taking energy from a more limited range of green generation projects and terms.
This option embeds renewable energy in all your current and future supply contracts as standard. The cost of renewable energy continues to fall sharply while the number of green-only suppliers is rising.
The market has been moving in this direction for some time. 40% of all contracts that we currently write are green.
Many corporate and all public sector contracts specify the need for renewable energy on supply contracts. This should also be an option if you are working towards a PPA or not in a position to enter a PPA.
This option means you receive the certification you need but are still be paying a surcharge for greener energy, and is lower down the sustainability ranking – so you may not achieve your targets in the time frames needed without additional measures.
What do we do?
Our Net Zero Pathway tool enables you to understand how greening supply contracts can fit within your net zero mix. Our experts then take care of tendering, purchasing and contractual arrangements to put renewables and sustainability at the heart of your energy supply contracts.
Note: while it can contribute to achieving net zero, greening an energy contract may not be recognised by some schemes such as the RE100 global initiative as a significant step towards net zero.
You can ‘neutralise’ the impacts of your greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through straightforward payments or by selecting and funding named projects.
Carbon offsetting is based on calculating how much carbon dioxide is emitted by your organisation or by a certain activity, then funding a project or initiative designed to reduce carbon emissions by the same amount. This might be planting or conserving a forest, or helping to fund a wind farm or solar energy renewables project.
Offsetting is particularly useful to global enterprises with locations that include places where net zero options such as private wire PPAs or CPPAs may not be possible.
What do we do?
Our Net Zero Pathway tool enables you to understand how carbon offsets can fit within your net zero mix. Two carbon offset portals are then available: UK-based projects and United Nations recognised projects. Choose the territories and activities you prefer, and enter how many tonnes of carbon you want to buy. Different costs per tonne of carbon can apply depending on the location and project involved.
The lowest tier of Green Energy & Carbon Offsets, these certificates can play a role in your overall net zero journey and offer a stepping stone to bigger projects.
Energy supply contracts backed by the Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO) certification scheme are a way to ‘evidence’ that the energy used comes from renewable sources and is therefore contributing to carbon neutrality. This is often the first step in a holistic sustainability programme.
REGO certificates can be traded between companies. Organisations who wish to be more proactive often accompany renewable energy certificates with direct action to reduce emissions.
What do we do?
Our Net Zero Pathway tool means you can understand how renewable energy certification can fit within your net zero mix. REGO certificates will show that supplies are ostensibly coming from renewable sources such as wind, solar and/or hydro.
By 2040, 67% of vehicles sold in Europe will be electric. Reshaping transport and logistics – moving to Electric Vehicles (EVs) – is a key element in reducing emissions on your net zero journey. Our experts can help you make the transition to an electric future cleanly and cost-effectively.
A world-class net zero and EV consulting partner, we can advise on the best approaches and then deploy next-generation platforms and intelligent networks to drive the EV revolution. This includes 98% annual uptime, proactive station monitoring, 24/7 driver support, and rapid repair or replacement of defective charging stations.
We also advise on the most appropriate equipment and fleets for your organisation, including charging infrastructure. This includes robust, reliable and flexible hardware, with devices that are easy to use and safe for drivers, including interactive video displays. Easy payment options can include contactless cards, mobile apps and RFID.
In driver services, our networks can notify EV users when, say, their vehicle is fully charged, the nearest charging point, or when a station becomes available. We help you to deploy durable charging stations that are physically secure, designed to cope with all weather conditions. Network management is also easy, via a user-friendly web portal.
The software is similarly flexible, enabling operators and managers to manage and measure energy usage, costs and revenue. Fleet managers can track vehicle charging, and pay for fuel if vehicles need to be charged at other stations. All of this means you can truly benefit from the EV revolution.
Consultus is proud to set the benchmark for an open, ethical and transparent approach to tendering, procuring and managing your energy requirements.
We are an award-winning provider: at the Energy Live News awards 2020 (TELCAs), Consultus was named the Most Trusted Consultancy (Large) for the second year running.
Not all energy suppliers carefully audit the brokers they deal with, and unfortunately the energy industry has developed a reputation for sharp practices and hidden costs. We are different. A pioneer in utility markets, Consultus has a reputation for openness, trusted market intelligence and ethical working practices. This is one factor behind an annual client retention rate of around 97 percent.