Consumers in the United Kingdom will now be able to track their power source hourly under new plans outlined by startup Granular and key players National Grid and Elexon.
Additionally, consumers can get discounts on bills if they utilize electricity when renewable energy is in surplus. This move could potentially help the country in reducing emissions as it will be easier for people to select energy companies that are transparent about their usage of renewable energy.
There are times when renewable energy is scarcely available, for instance when it is less sunny or windy. With this move, customers could be incentivized to leverage power when it is in oversupply by offering discounts on their bills, thereby resulting in less usage of gas.
The existing system is based on annual matching where the energy supplier analyses the energy usage of the previous year and matches it with the amount of renewable energy. However, there is a growing demand for adopting hourly matching.
Companies including Microsoft and Google have been supporting the move as this helps these organizations to claim 24/7 usage of renewable energy.
Furthermore, experts say it will also increase customer demand as they get the freedom to choose more renewable alternatives. This will push companies to make investments in renewables as well as battery technology for efficient storage.
Granular Co-Founder Toby Ferenczi has stated that consumers will be able to see this change by the end of this year. He believes that the move expedites the shift towards a complete carbon-free grid as it is leveraging consumer spending power to provide energy from carbon-less sources each hour.
This initiative is not only dedicated to renewables but also energy flexibility and storage. Ultimately, consumers will be able to purchase green energy from their energy provider by the hour.
Source credit:
