First peer-to-peer renewable electricity marketplace secures £500,000
Green energy news – by Louise Bateman
3rd November 2014
UK-based tech start-up, Open Utility, is a step closer to launching the first renewable electricity peer-to-peer online marketplace, having secured half a million pounds of funding from the Government and other sources.
Open Utility said today it had secured £310,000 from the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s Energy Entrepreneurs Fund and match funding of £150,000 from Nominet Trust, the UK ‘Tech for Good’ funder.
“With the DECC funding now confirmed, we are progressing partnership conversations with a number of utilities, and aim to make a final decision by early December,” he told GreenWise.
Launching in 2016
Related content:
“Total transparency”
The big data company has been working for the past two years on establishing an online marketplace that would allow consumers to buy their energy from local, renewable sources if they choose to, and for producers to work out where they can strike the best deals to sell at.
“We think the future is in abundant, clean, local energy – and the only way to make this happen is to throw open the marketplace so there is total transparency of where renewable energy comes from and how much it costs,” said James Johnston, co-founder and ceo at Open Utility. “With our new peer-to-peer service, community buildings like schools and offices will be able to double as power plants – powering themselves during the day and sharing excess power with neighbours in the evenings and weekends.”
Price comparison site
But Johnson said Open Utility has for the past six months been looking to work with one or more UK utility companies to build its “peer-to-peer marketplace technology”, but has yet to strike a deal.
In August, Open Utility announced the first online price comparison service for Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), claiming it could earn independent renewable energy generators up to 20 per cent more for their electricity by creating an open market for green energy.
Energy Entrepreneurs Fund
The £35 million Energy Entrepreneurs Fund has been set up to help small businesses with innovative low carbon energy ideas to cut the cost of consumer bills.
“The UK has a long and rich history of developing innovative and exciting new technologies that can enhance our lives whilst also tackling serious problems such as climate change. The Open Utility project is being supported by the Energy Entrepreneur Scheme which has been developed to help the UK achieve our ambitions to improve energy security, reduce emissions whilst also creating new jobs,” Amber Rudd, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Energy and Climate Change, said.
Launching in 2016
Following a pilot phase, Open Utility said the new service will launch in 2016 offering tools for renewable generators to sell their electricity directly to commercial consumers.
“This idea gives us an ethical alternative to the UK’s big six energy companies, and the chance for individuals to sustain a nascent and hugely important renewables energy sector that most scientists agree is vital for the future of the planet. This project is something that would be impossible to achieve without technology,” Annika Small, ceo, Nominet Trust, said.
Alongside the new funding, Open Utility is one of nine start-ups that has reached the final stage of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology’s Climate-KIC UK Accelerator Programme, that includes a grant of £40,000. The programme helps promising start-ups develop cleantech ventures.
Like this story? Please subscribe to our free weekly e-newsletter at the top of the page for more content like this.
Follow us on Twitter.
Related content:
