Trading Renewables

The challenge of integrating intermittent, distributed energy resources – such as solar and wind – into the power grid has been a major roadblock to the widespread adoption of renewables. But recently, companies in several countries have launched trading platforms that will allow owners of small, renewable generators to trade energy as supply and demand warrants.

In Germany, Sonnenbatterie has developed a system that connects consumers directly with producers. It incorporates battery storage for suppliers to pool excess energy reserves from which community members can draw on demand. The price is set at 25 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is less than publicly available power in Germany but more than utilities pay for producers to transfer power into the grid.

In the Netherlands, the platform developed by Vandebron allows consumers to contract directly with clean energy suppliers at a mutually negotiated price. The system has more than 38,000 subscribers.

And in the United States, Yeloha links consumers with generator owners, feeds the electricity into the grid, and works with utilities to track the amount of power transferred between providers and users.