Buying Green Energy

TheEnergyBrokers are committed to helping your business secure a supply contract which includes electricity generated from renewable resources.

How could your business benefit?

Buying green energy can help you to:

• Reduce the amount of Climate Change Levy (CCL) tax your organisation has to pay
• Show your commitment to the environment and enhance your brand image
• Build relationships with customers who share the same values as you

Electricity generation produces around 30% of the UK's CO₂ emissions and more green energy is seen as key to reducing the climate change impact of this sector.

Organisations looking to demonstrate their contribution to action against climate change through the purchase of green power may, however, find the process something of a maze.

We can assist you to navigate through the network of green options and ensure that you are achieving just what you need to meet your organisation’s corporate responsibility targets.

For starters, we have outlined some of the key technologies below and how they might impact your carbon footprint:

• Carbon Free
• Low Carbon
• Carbon Offset

Carbon Free

Carbon free energy relates to electricity that has been generated without producing any emissions whatsoever.

Technologies would include the traditional renewable forms of generation such as wind, wave & tidal, solar and small scale hydro.

Power generated from any of these sources would be likely to incur a significant premium over standard brown energy but would be completely exempt from the Climate Change Levy (CCL).

Low Carbon

Low carbon energy relates to electricity that falls outside of the traditional renewable sources, but that has been generated with lower emissions than the standard output of brown energy sources.

Technologies would include Good Quality CHP, biomass, large scale hydro and, perhaps controversially, nuclear.

Power generated from these sources would be likely to be broadly cost neutral against standard brown energy.

Good Quality CHP and biomass sourced power will incur exemption from CCL, however, power from either large scale hydro or nuclear sources will incur CCL at full cost.

Carbon Offset

Supply of green energy is limited and can be expensive.

Dependent on your organisation's sustainability policy, it may be beneficial to look at carbon offset options as an alternative to purchasing either carbon free or low carbon electricity.

Carbon offset looks to mitigate the emissions generated through the development of alternative projects – schemes may include reforestation for example – and represent a different way of managing your organisation's carbon footprint.

If you would like to find out more about how TheEnergyBrokers can assist you, contact us.