Direct renewable supply and private energy markets

The wholesale market sets most business electricity prices by the cost of gas. A private energy market steps outside that: your sites are matched directly with UK renewable generators, half hour by half hour, through a licensed supplier over the public grid. You know where your power came from, and the price is set between generator and user rather than by the market.

What a private energy market is

A private market is a matched group of generators and consumers. It might be a single business buying from a nearby wind or hydro generator, a manufacturer with solar on one site sharing its output with its other sites, or a group of businesses and generators in the same region. Every half hour, the platform matches what the generators produced with what the consumers used. Anything not covered is topped up from the grid, so your supply continues as normal.

Share energy between your own sites

If you generate at one site and consume at others, a private market lets the surplus from the generating site be matched against your other sites' consumption, wherever they are in Great Britain. Instead of exporting at a low price and buying back at a high one, your organisation keeps the value of its own generation.

Three ways to contract

• Fully fixed. A fixed price for the term, with every unit traceable to the generators you are matched with. Suits organisations that need budget certainty and want to evidence exactly where their power comes from.
• Part fixed. Most of your volume fixed, the rest at the private market price, so you gain from local matching while keeping most of your budget certain.
• Local. Your volume matched first with named local generators at the private market price, with grid top up when they are not producing. The largest saving potential, with more price movement.

For generators

If you generate, a private market is a route to market for your export. Guaranteed matching options fix the price on a large share of your output for revenue certainty, with the balance sold into the private market. Smaller generators can be added to a market as top up. Quarterly matching and financial benefit reports show exactly how your output was used and what it earned.

Reporting your customers will accept

Because matching is done half hourly, you receive reports showing the volume matched by generator and by technology, day by day. That is a much clearer basis for Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions reporting than an annual certificate, and it answers the question customers increasingly ask: where does your energy actually come from?

How Energy Planner helps

• Suitability. We look at your consumption pattern and your sites to see whether a private market suits you, and which of the three contract options fits.
• Comparison. We compare the private market option against conventional supply, so you see the real difference in cost and risk.
• Contracts. We check the terms, the matching method and how reliefs pass through, then manage the arrangement and the bills.
• Generators. We help generators find business buyers and set up guaranteed matching.

Common questions

Do we need to be near the generator?
No. Matching happens over the public grid, so your sites and the generators can be anywhere in Great Britain, although local matching is available where it suits.

What happens when the generators are not producing?
Your supply is topped up from the grid automatically. Your supply continues as normal; you simply pay the top up price for that portion.

Is this the same as a green tariff?
No. A green tariff is usually normal grid supply backed by annual certificates. A private market matches your actual consumption to actual generation, half hour by half hour, and reports it.

This page is general information, not advice on your specific circumstances. Matching arrangements, contract terms and pricing depend on your sites, your consumption and what is available at the time, so it is worth confirming the detail before making a decision.