Business customers of Good Energy are to be offered access to the Piclo renewable energy trading platform after the green utility made a commercial agreement with Open Utility.
Piclo matches local renewable energy generators with businesses, enabling participating parties to both sell and purchase renewable power on a platform underpinned by Open Utility’s peer-to-peer energy matching algorithms.
The new multi-year agreement will allow Good Energy’s customers to access the online service and control their supply, sourcing renewable energy from a wide portfolio of generators across the UK. The service will provide customers with access to data and analytics, while Good Energy will manage all aspects of market rollout, customer recruitment and programme administration.
Juliet Davenport, chief executive and founder of Good Energy, said: “Good Energy would like to see a decentralised energy system where control is in the hands of the people and businesses who use it. Open Utility has developed a digital platform which offers end users more choice and control. We look forward to developing a proposition which is attractive to business users and renewable generators.”
The new partnership follows a six month trial conducted from 1 October 2015 which invited 37 participants to use the system. It included the likes of National Trust and The Eden Project, which found it could save as much as £20,000 each year through reduced Distribution Use of System (DUoS) charges by prioritising locally-generated electricity with Piclo.
James Johnston, CEO of Open Utility, said: “Good Energy has recognised that their business customers want to buy renewable electricity from local generators. The Piclo Platform gives them the unique ability to provide customers with the data and control over their energy supply chain through a simple and intuitive online service.”
Open Utility is expecting to reach hundreds of business sites over the course of the agreement with Good Energy, claiming that its Piclo service will offer small businesses access to the benefits enjoyed by large firms.
Nima Taba-tabai, head of sales and partnerships at Open Utility, said: “Thought leading businesses, such as Google, Apple and BT, have already shown a strong appetite for purchasing renewable electricity directly from renewable projects.
“However these direct PPAs [power purchase agreements] have mostly been limited to large corporates and global blue-chips due to the upfront costs and complexities of these long-term agreements.
“Piclo delivers all the benefits of these agreements to businesses of all sizes without any of the risks or additional cost. SMEs can enjoy the same value proposition of transparency and control over their renewable energy supply chain.
He added that this access for SMEs meant they could use their energy supply to contribute towards corporate and social responsibility objectives as well as wider marketing campaigns.
Good Energy told Clean Energy News earlier today that the Piclo service would be launched to its business customers in the autumn.
