Good Energy backs trial of first renewable energy online marketplace

“Piclo is an innovative service that puts consumers at the heart of energy and could unlock the potential of renewables in the UK. This is something we passionately support as a pioneering independent energy supplier,” Good Energy chief executive Juliet Davenport said about the agreement.

The news that Good Energy is partnering on Piclo is an important milestone for the ground-breaking project, which last year won backing from the Department of Energy and Climate Change and has been in the planning for more than two years. Good Energy works with an extensive network of independent renewable energy generators and has a growing base of business customers. Open Utility said the 100 per cent renewable energy supplier will help facilitate billing and ensure Piclo doesn’t fall foul of complex energy regulations.

“We are excited to work together with Good Energy to deliver Piclo, a brand new way to buy and sell renewable electricity in the UK,” Open Utility co-founder James Johnston said.

Details of the pilot are still to be worked out, but Johnston told GreenWise the partners were looking to recruit “pilot sites” compromising of two or more renewable generators and commercial consumers in “three or four regions” across the UK, before the trial is set to go live in August.

“We hope to get at least one large organisation onboard, but also some community-based organisations. If we can get a community energy group to join the pilot that would be great,” said Johnston.

Residential market

Johnston added that Open Utility was working with DECC to investigate ways of how to bring a renewable electricity peer-to-peer online marketplace to the residential market.

“We started by imagining that the best target for the first peer-to-peer marketplace would be residential customers, but we found it wasn’t because of regulatory barriers, particularly around consumer protection. It would also require metering data that isn’t yet in place for residential customers.

“Our goal [with this trial] would be to try and prove the value to commercial consumers and pave the way for change [in the residential market],” Johnston explained.

Open Utility first trialled the software for an online renewable energy marketplace back in 2013 with a community energy project in Gorran, on the south coast of Cornwall, with the help of local cooperative, Community Power Cornwall.

Business and renewable generators interested in getting involved in the Piclo pilot can register their interest by contacting Open Utility by email at [email protected].