A new portal connecting industrial, commercial and public sector energy buyers with renewables developers claims it will make the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) market more transparent.
The consultancy behind the platform represents some large users, such as Liberty Global Group (Virgin Media), Pizza Hut and the Mexican government.
Juan Pablo Cerda, managing director at Almach, says work with such clients “demonstrates a need to provide a clear, transparent view of renewable energy projects available around the world, while helping corporates reduce costs and complexity”.
Long touted as the next big driver of renewables projects, a lack of transparency has limited the uptake of corporate PPAs to date, according to consultants.
Deal or no deal
Launching the free Re-search platform, Cerda explained that to date, identifying suitable projects can be extensive, lengthy, and often ends up with no deal being struck.
He said the portal enables users to filter out projects that do not meet their requirements, effectively creating a shortlist of suitable projects, saving time and effort.
Corporates can then use the platform to issue a simplified RFI to start market tenders.
Cerda added that enabling renewable developers to group all of their projects in one place should increase liquidity and transparency, while helping them to better connect with corporates to fund projects in a post-subsidy environment.
“We’re keen to shake up the way corporates and projects get connected in a very positive way, for both sides of the deal,” said Cerda.
“With more and more large-scale corporates moving to 100% renewables, we will see increased investment in the sector worldwide that will help contribute towards global climate objectives.”
Serious callers only
Meanwhile, for renewables developers, the platform is designed to cut out “window shoppers” and present them with serious callers only.
Almach has partnered with consultancies South Pole and Cornwall Insight to provide data, access to Renewable Energy Certificates and future energy price benchmarks.
The firm said those partnerships will enable businesses to quickly build the business case for renewable energy procurement.
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