“In a sense what I’ve done at Good Energy sophistic smoke and mirrorism, with The planning system does not work for the amount
was borne out of that frustration of politicians megawatts sold to up to three buyers, with a
of renewable energy we need to implement, says
Davenport
just being ‘political’, and not really being strate- different certificate tendered on each occasion.
gic or having a vision,” Davenport explains. In a market with such ambiguous parame-
“If we took the bull by the horns and put ters and ill-defined loopholes, even an ethical and get a system we all can agree on.”
the right policies in place the [renewable ener- bastion like Good Energy has been subject to Run by the flamboyant Dale Vincent,
gy] targets would be completely achievable, criticism, with close rival Ecotricity recently Ecotricity arguably forms an alternative ener-
but if we shilly-shally around they won’t be. accusing it of exaggerating its ROC retirement gy faction, or “big two”, with Good Energy,
And in my mind we’ve put some policies in policy. ROCs are tradeable instruments that though it takes an entirely different tack.
place but we’re still shilly-shallying around.” help the Government meet its renewable ener- Around 54% of Ecotricity’s supplies hail
One of her bugbears is the how the Planning gy generation targets. from “brown” sources (nuclear 16%, coal
Bill’s Infrastructure Planning Commission, They are issued to and sold by renewable 19.1% and natural gas 17.1% etc), but it
which was established to speed up the execu- generators, and are designed to bolster renew- invests more than any other company in the
tion of major infrastructure proposals, only able energy’s natural market price. All electric- UK in new build wind energy projects.
deals with onshore wind developments above ity suppliers must surrender ROCs at a rate “I don’t see there’s any need for us to be
50MW, and offshore above 100MW. equivalent to a certain percentage of the energy aggressive, there is an open market place with
“It is just unacceptable really,” she says. they supply or face financial penalties. Good plenty of space for both offerings,” Davenport
“The planning system just doesn’t work, Energy goes beyond its legal obligations and points out.
not for the amount of renewable energy we retires the “financial equivalent” of an addi- Indeed, with 40% of the UK’s CO
2
emis-
need to implement in the UK.” tional 5% of ROCs to raise their price and sions coming from electricity generation, the
Davenport doesn’t heckle from the sidelines make it more desirable for firms to invest in playing field for making a difference is wide
however, and has taken up positions on the renewable generation. While Good Energy open. Buoyed by the Good Energy’s financial
Government’s Renewables Avisory Board, the has this practice independently verified, the performance and customer loyalty, Davenport
board of RegenSW, and Ofgem’s Environment lack of any clear industry standards has creat- is optimistic about the next few years.
and Advisory and Microgeneration steering ed a culture of frustration and mistrust. One of the company’s main missions will be
groups. Good Energy, meanwhile, is at the “There’s been ongoing debate between to repower and double the output capacity of
forefront of bringing clarity to the befuddling Ecotricity and Good Energy and it ebbs and the Delabole windfarm, to supply over 7,500
world of green electricity tariffs by helping flows, this is just one of those times when homes and save 10,000 tonnes of CO
2
a year.
Ofgem define how it will implement a long they’ve got a bit bored and they thought The project, which received approval last
awaited accreditation scheme later this year. they’d have a pop shot at us,” Davenport sighs. December, will be managed by recent recruit
Davenport says that this is a long overdue “Our retirement policy is something we try Charles Rattan, a former project manager for
development in a market rife with dubious to be as transparent about as possible, but the E.ON where he guided 150-megawatts worth
“counting” practices. Currently, electricity way the green market works is quite complex. of windfarms through the planning process.
generators are awarded three certificates “This is why we need a central accreditation “There’s a certain disappointment that
whenever renewable electricity is produced: a system. So people can’t go ‘oh well you didn’t we’re not bigger than we are today,”
REGO (renewable energy guarantee of ori- explain that properly’. That’s what’s frustrat- Davenport muses. “We’d like to be double our
gin), a ROC (renewable obligation certificate) ing with Ecotricity having a go at us in way. size, but I think the pure fact that we exist
and an LEC (Levy Exemption Certificate). There’s so much wrong with the rest of the means there is innovation in the energy mar-
This has resulted in countless instances of market, let’s all focus on trying to get it right ket that might not be there without us.”
Sustainable Business 7❘ November/December 2009 2
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