Giving consumers a stake with user-owned renewables from Ripple
As a partner supplier, we help Ripple make it possible for people across the UK to own and benefit from renewable generation.
As the drive to decarbonise encourages unprecedented technological and market innovation, this is in many ways an exciting time for the energy sector.
Whether it’s through the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG), the E.ON ectogrid, or plans to pilot Energy Sharing Communities and Rising Block Tariffs, we are always looking at new ways to shake up the energy system, reduce customers’ bills, and accelerate the transition to net zero. At the same time, we’re also working to give people greater control over their energy consumption so they can become more engaged in the decarbonisation process. But there have been limits to how involved they can be.
The public overwhelmingly supports more renewable energy infrastructure and would like to see the UK go further and faster in delivering it, but according to leading energy forecaster Cornwall Insight, solar and wind projects currently need £48bn of additional funding if the country is to reach its 2030 targets. Large-scale solar and wind farms are primarily funded by long-term bank loans, private investment, and the government, which leaves only a very limited role in the development of new projects to the people who will ultimately consume the power they generate.
We need a way to give people in the UK a direct stake in the building of new renewable infrastructure, allowing them to invest in the country’s energy future and enjoy long-term dividends for doing so. Enter: Ripple Energy.
By offering individuals the opportunity to support new projects and own part of a wind or solar farm through a cooperative model, Ripple is providing an important new route to expanding renewable generation, and we’re proud that E.ON Next is now one of their supply partners.
How does Ripple’s cooperative model work?
We do what we can to encourage the uptake of domestic renewable energy generation, for instance by offering market-leading SEG tariffs to our solar customers, but sometimes this simply isn’t possible. Even among those who can afford it, people who don’t own their homes and those in shared buildings cannot invest in solar PV, and very few people have the means or space to enjoy their own source of wind-generated electricity.
Ripple’s cooperative model offers a simple solution:
- Individuals and small businesses can buy a share in a planned wind or solar farm.
- Ripple uses this money to complete the project, which belongs to cooperative members.
- A partner supplier like E.ON Next buys electricity from the project at operating rather than market cost, and provides it to members via the grid with the difference discounted.
As a result, members of the cooperative enjoy renewable power at a below-market rate for the lifespan of their project – approximately 30 years for a wind farm – and there are several other benefits:
- Because they pay for electricity based on running costs instead of market rates, cooperative members are insulated from the kinds of price spikes that have rocked the energy market in recent years.
- Project shares can be relatively small or up to 120% of a member's annual consumption, making sustainable generation and the associated savings available to a much wider range of people.
- Cooperative members can take their share in a project wherever they go, making both solar and wind generation available to homeowners, renters, SMEs, and anyone else who wants to invest.
Ultimately, this means cooperative members are less vulnerable to forces that are beyond their control, and can play an active role in delivering net zero while enjoying better rates, security, and freedom.
Supporting user-owned renewables
The British public overwhelmingly want to see more green energy projects, and they want them fast. While the government’s plans to support new initiatives through GB Energy are welcome and vital, empowering individuals to take the energy transition into their own hands will help get us there quicker, bring more sustainable infrastructure to UK, and make user-owned renewable energy generation possible for everyone, regardless of where or how they live.
Ripple are currently embarking on their third people-owned wind farm project – Whitelaw Brae – which will be capable of powering 54,000 homes, saving approximately 78,323 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere each year. As one of their partner suppliers, we’re proud to be a part of that process, and to be supporting the UK’s path to a decentralised energy system that’s more sustainable, flexible, and better for consumers.
To learn more about some of the exciting technological and market innovations we’re leading, read our latest news and announcements here: https://www.eon-uk.news/