One of the key drivers for businesses utilising behind-the-meter (BtM) power purchase agreements (PPAs) is time to power.
A panel at the Renewable Procurement and Revenue Summit in London discussed the benefits of the procurement structure. Mark Page, sales director at onsite energy provider Bloom Energy, said that for businesses deciding what route to go down for energy procurement, it’s a case of “uncertainty versus surety”.
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“When you’re trying to get a business off the ground you need surety, which is the total opposite of what you’re getting at this time of ambiguity with the UK grid. What a PPA does is cover you from that uncertainty,” Page said.
Alongside the grid connection issues for suppliers, causing generation project delays in the UK, there is significant demand connection delay. David Kipling, CEO and founder of On Site Energy, a corporate energy supply specialist, called navigating the “current queue situation” a “critical issue”.
While these comments were made in relation to connection difficulty in the UK market, Albane Guesdon, commercial lead at Octopus Energy Generation (OEG), the investment platform of energy supplier Octopus Energy, noted that there are grid delays in all of the countries OEG operates in.
“There is market traction for BtM for those companies that want to secure energy supply quickly.” Guesdon said that while corporate PPAs are one approach to speeding time to power, these operate as a complementary addition to onsite generation.
Page added that alongside time to power, a “key driver” for BtM is power price volatility, and the fact that, depending on the model “, there could be virtually zero upfront cost”.
As well as the cost saving compared with paying for energy at a cost set by gas, Kipling said, BtM PPAs offer savings on non-commodity costs bundled into energy bills. Guesdon agreed, noting that onsite generation unlocks optionality around funding.
This can serve as risk protection: “Fully-funded BtM brings great opportunities to clients, it means no risk to them not only from capital exposure but also operational costs. The risk sits with the investor or developer, but the beauty of a fully-funded model is that everyone’s interests are fully aligned,” she said.
Risk allocation is a sticking point in more traditional PPA negotiations, something that was the topic of another panel at the event, a write-up of which is available to read here.
The dominant tension in BtM PPAs, despite the alignment Guesdon mentioned, is property ownership. Kipling said he’s “learned the hard way” that the landlord has to be onboard “from the outset”.
