Sell your energy for what it is actually worth.
If you generate electricity at commercial scale, there is more than one buyer for it and more than one way to sell it. What you are paid depends on the route you take, who you take it to and how the contract is written.
Commercial generators, not households.
This page is for owners of solar farms and rooftop portfolios, onshore and offshore wind, hydro, anaerobic digestion and battery storage who export power at commercial scale, whether the asset is new build, coming off subsidy or on a contract that ends soon.
If you are a householder with solar panels, the route for you is the Smart Export Guarantee, which your electricity supplier administers. Export Energy does not handle domestic export.
Five ways to sell the power you export.
Utility PPA
A licensed supplier or trader takes your output at an agreed price, fixed or floating, and handles balancing. The most common route to market, and the one where competition makes the biggest difference to the number.
Corporate PPA
A business contracts for your output over a longer term, either sleeved through a licensed supplier to its meters or as a virtual PPA settled in cash. A named buyer, and credit becomes part of the price. PPAs explained.
Licence exempt supply
Selling directly to a consumer without a full supply licence, within the limits of the exemption regime, often as a second revenue stream alongside a standard PPA. Buyers are actively looking for P442 supply.
Private wire
Where a consumer sits next to the asset, power can go straight to them without touching the network. The best unit rate for both sides, if the site allows it. Private wire or sleeved PPA.
Hourly matched demand
Buyers working to an hourly matched position pay for the hours solar cannot reach, which suits dispatchable, storage backed and night-time output. Private markets explained.
The headline rate is one line of a long contract.
Price basis
Fixed, floating against day-ahead or season-ahead prices, or a floor or collar with a share of the upside.
Volume risk
Who pays when output lands away from forecast, and how tightly the tolerance bands are drawn.
REGOs
Retained, sold separately or bundled into the price. Any of those can be right, as long as it was a decision.
Embedded benefits
What is passed through to you, what the offtaker keeps, and what happens if the charging regime changes mid-term.
Credit and security
Guarantees, letters of credit and the collateral that gets called at the worst possible moment.
Term and exit
Length, extension mechanics, curtailment, negative price periods and the events that let either side walk away.
Start nine to twelve months out.
That is enough time to run a proper process before your current contract, ROC or FiT arrangement runs out, and to negotiate rather than accept. Longer if the volume is large or the buyer will need credit support. What to do when your ROC or FiT is ending.
What to send us
- Technology, capacity and location
- Connection, distribution or transmission
- Half-hourly export data, if you have it
- Your current contract and when it ends
- Subsidy status: ROC, FiT, CfD or none
- Whether the asset is registered for REGOs
The first conversation, and a first view on what your output is likely to attract, cost nothing.
Selling your energy, answered.
How do I sell the electricity my site generates?
At commercial scale, usually through a power purchase agreement with a licensed supplier or trader, who takes your output, handles balancing and pays you an agreed price. Larger assets can also contract with a business through a corporate PPA, and some sites can sell directly to a nearby consumer through licence exempt supply or a private wire. The right route depends on your technology, size, location and how much price and volume risk you want to carry.
Can I sell electricity directly to a business?
Yes. The most common way is a sleeved PPA, where a licensed supplier sits in the middle and delivers your power to the buyer’s meters. A virtual PPA is a financial contract with a business that leaves the physical power with the market. Where the consumer is close by or the volumes are suitable, licence exempt supply or a private wire can also work.
Do I need a supply licence to sell my electricity?
Not to sell to a supplier or trader under a PPA. Selling directly to a consumer is different: it needs either a supply licence or an arrangement that sits within the licence exemption regime, which is why most generators sell through a licensed party.
How much is my exported electricity worth?
It depends on technology, shape, location, connection and how much risk you are willing to carry on volume and price. The headline rate is only one line of the contract; volume tolerance, REGO treatment, embedded benefits and credit terms decide what you actually receive. Send us the basics and we will give you a view of what the market is likely to do with it.
When should I start looking for a new buyer?
Nine to twelve months before your current contract or subsidy ends for most assets, and longer if the volume is large or the buyer will need credit support. Starting late is the most common reason generators end up accepting an incumbent’s first offer.
Is this the Smart Export Guarantee?
No. The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) is how householders and other small-scale generators are paid by their electricity supplier for power exported to the grid. Export Energy works with commercial and industrial generators. If you have solar panels at home, speak to your supplier about the SEG.
Find out what your power is worth.
Tell us what you generate and when your current arrangement ends. We reply within one working day, and the first conversation costs nothing.