The WePower team is growing!

We’re leading renewable energy technology innovation with the vision to drive decarbonisation and energy transition with our first-in-market products. Join us!

As a global tech scale-up, we’re proud to be a gender-balanced team. Our headquarters is based in Europe and our R&D office is in Melbourne, Australia.

There is currently 1open role in the WePower team: Token Performance Manager.

Core responsibilities:

• Identify and define opportunities to increase token performance;
• Build & nurture relationships with partnering exchanges, influencers & crypto media;
• Coordinate listings & token liquidity in general;
• Provide our Community with token-related information.

Requirements:

• Significant experience with crypto trading;
• Fluency in English;
• Ability to express thoughts in written form;
• In-depth understanding of Reddit & Telegram platforms;
• Theoretical and/ or practical experience in business management / economics / cryptonomics / trading.

Bonus:

• Member of our Community;
• Activity in the community of crypto enthusiasts;
• Former experience in tech, SaaS, crypto, blockchain-related companies;
• Experience with marketing / PR.

Language:

English

Position:

Half time / full time

Locations:

Remote / Vilnius / Melbourne

Company offers:

• Role of growing importance in the company with the innovative business model;
• Possibility to work entirely remotely;
• 12.000–30.000 Eur salary + bonus related to KPIs;
• Opportunity to represent the company in events worldwide.

Please send your CV and cover letter to team@wepower.network

We are hiring: Token Performance Manager was originally published in WePower on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

WePower February — March update

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For a web version of the update please click here.

WePower February — March update was originally published in WePower on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

At WePower, we’re passionate about creating a positive impact on the global energy sector through innovative digital solutions to support the energy transition and sustainable approaches to powering our world.

Over the last year we’ve achieved a lot, and we owe our success to our team. The WePower team is striving to build products that our customers want and need, while working to achieve gender balance in the energy technology space and creating a workplace that fosters growth and collaboration.

We’re in the business of doing good and we’ve got a great team moving us forward toward our goals. Meet the WePower team:

Huda, Chief Customer Officer, is passionate about driving positive economic impacts.

“Energy democratization has me excited to be part of WePower! I love that our products are impacting markets around the world.

With Australian roots, European heritage and a love of travel, I’m truly excited to support the energy transition globally — servicing the largest emitters with a potential savings of over 10b tonnes of emissions per annum while providing positive economic impact across the value chain.”

Shweta, Head of Delivery, is driven by technology and sustainability.

“I’m from Varanasi, growing up I had a knack for technology so I graduated in IT and worked in digital transformation & technology implementation in multi-national companies, before moving to Australia.

WePower is a perfect amalgam of the two things I connect to most — technology and environmental sustainability. I feel privileged to be a part of a small but high-impact team that allows for individual growth. Our team is driving the energy transition so that future generations can live, breathe, and experience a beautiful world.”

Aukse, Community & Social Media Manager, believes in a sustainable future and doing the business of doing good.

“Lithuanians were the last pagans of Europe and I believe the connection with nature is in our veins. I see climate change as a natural outcome of our global overconsumption. It is a wake up call.

I have been with WePower for an exciting 5 years now. I truly believe that doing a good business out of doing good is the best shot we have in the climate change fight. I’m proud to be part of the company which enables market participants to make a leap towards more conscious, sustainable economic activity. Being a mom motivates me to push the sustainability agenda to the max — our kids deserve a functional Planet.”

Stas, Product Manager, is motivated by the challenge of bringing big ideas to life.

“I was born and have spent most of my life in Estonia — with low population density, clean air and amazingly beautiful nature. A value I share with WePower is sustaining the environment and the diversity of our planet’s nature.

I have always been drawn to big ideas and innovating the energy sector feels just big enough. It is a challenge and I want to contribute to the change needed. I have an obligation to build and maintain a sustainable way of living that allows our kids and their kids to enjoy the same things we have now.”

Kristjan, Chief Architect, loves building innovative solutions the energy sector needs.

“The coolest thing about working at WePower is the novelty of our product. We’ve built something that no one else has, but that everyone in the Energy sector needs. And, we’ve done it with a great group of people — the WePower team.

Technology is everywhere, but digitisation in energy is lagging behind, and that’s slowing down the adoption of green energy. I’ve been studying and working on WePower technologies for the past four years and I’m excited to see our solutions helping out across the world.”

Manmeet, Product Analyst, is fascinated by technology connecting people to renewable energy.

“My career started as a mainframe developer back in India.

I joined WePower because I’m fascinated by our approach to connecting people to renewable energy through new technologies. I feel connected to our purpose because my sister is asthmatic. I have seen how she struggles to be outside when the air quality is poor. Knowing that my work reduces emissions makes me proud. It means cleaner air, and that’s good for everyone, including my sister.”

Kaspar, Co-founder & CTO, believes in advancing the digital energy infrastructure.

“Changing our global approach to energy production is complex and nuanced, but advancements are crucial because a sustainable, resilient energy infrastructure is a precursor for the continuation of any mature civilisation. Our current approach to energy is depleting our nonrenewable resources and we’ve only just scratched the surface of the solution — the digital energy infrastructure. I love being a part of it at WePower.”

Li-Chi, Business Analyst, sees value in reducing the complexity of green energy adoption.

“I grew up in Taiwan, which is a small island county. My childhood inspired my passion for hiking, swimming and cooking and I want future generations in my country to enjoy the same beautiful natural views and experiences, but they will be affected by climate change before most other countries.

I joined the WePower team because I believe in our vision to accelerate the coverage of green energy by reducing the complexity and slowing climate change. I feel privileged to be a part of a team with a good cause, and I am excited to grow with WePower to achieve our goals!”

Celeste, Head of Marketing, is passionate about challenging assumptions and making innovative ideas impactful.

“I’m originally from Michigan, USA, and I’ve lived and worked on nearly every continent.

I joined WePower after completing studies in entrepreneurship. I love working with entrepreneurs because they think differently — they challenge assumptions and make innovative ideas impactful. Contributing real solutions to advancing our energy infrastructure and being part of a supportive, gender-balanced team gives my work purpose. Team diversity breeds the creativity and innovation we need to solve the world’s toughest problems.”

Nick, Co-founder & CEO, is eager to improve quality of life by driving WePower & the energy transition.

“My passion for renewable energy grew as I experienced winters across several European countries. The generation facilities warming our cities run on gas and produce pollution where our populations live, decreasing the quality of life of Europeans.

In our fourth year, WePower has expanded in Europe and beyond. Our team has grown and our products are helping more customers than ever before. I’m proud to be part of WePower and the energy transition!”

WePower People was originally published in WePower on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Over the past 5 years we’ve watched the energy industry be driven by technological change, rising competition and evolving legislative frameworks, all requiring the deployment of more customer-centric technologies.

At WePower, we have met many power companies, across the world, who have recognized the need for digital transformation. These early adopters are fundamentally rethinking their business models, redefining how they can better serve and interact with their customers, and mitigating risks associated with the changing landscape of energy.

At the same time, energy is a particularly slow-moving industry when it comes to adopting new approaches. Investments tend to be highly capital-intensive, there are complex regulatory requirements, and power retailers and utilities often don’t know where to start their transformation or innovation process.

Understanding how digitizing your energy processes creates added value for customers will put you at the forefront of the energy industry, but you’ll also need a strong approach to guiding the customer experience. Defining your customer’s journey in renewable energy procurement will ensure your customer is guided through the process, helped through unforeseen organisational bottlenecks and delivered the best products and services for their business.

Know your customers

The energy industry as a whole sees its customer segments through three key groups; Commercial and Industrial, Small/Medium businesses, and residential. These groupings are typically based on consumption. With the advent of renewable energy and decentralization of generation assets referred to as Distributed Energy Resources (DER), all three groups can be their own generators. As such, the key to enabling a successful customer experience is to provide intuitive, digitised solutions for each step of the journey.

What is the Renewable Energy Customer Experience Journey?

With digitisation comes new renewable energy products, many of which your customers may be unaware of. Guiding your customer through the customer journey, from start to end, is the key to a higher sales success rate. The five phases in the journey are awareness, consideration, purchase, retention, and advocacy. Though these are general phases in any customer journey, a digitised energy management platform can make each step of the journey easier for yourself and your customers.

Awareness

The discovery stage, pre-sales, is an opportunity to draw your customer’s attention to your innovative energy products. First, you must understand how your products meet your potential customer’s current and future needs.

Energy technology is novel and exciting, but also drives companies to use additional caution in the purchasing process. Connect with your potential customers around their vision and develop clear messaging around how your innovative products are already working in line with what their customers want and need.

Consideration

When your potential energy customers consider your product they are driven by their needs and their awareness and understanding of your brand. Remember that features are secondary to the functionalities of your products that directly solve their problems.

If your brand is new to the market, be sure to magnify awareness around your partnerships, thought leadership and use-cases of how your innovative digital energy products are exceeding the goals of your current customers.

Purchase

Don’t leave your customer waiting once they’ve made the purchase. Meeting their immediate needs shows that you’re supportive of their business goals from day one.

Don’t leave a long void between purchase and planning deployment. Acknowledge and celebrate your new customer and set a positive tone for the relationship, moving them forward into further phases.

Retention

It’s far more cost effective to maintain your current customers than find new ones. Retaining a customer can be difficult if support and guidance are not integral parts of the process. When customers feel insufficiently supported, their relationship with your brand changes, putting your reputation and ability to up-sell at risk.

In technology, a customer feels unsupported when their expectations of understanding and learning the technology are not met. Ensure you have a customer success team and relevant training available to support your customers to help them to on-sell the benefits of energy technology to their own customers.

Maintain customer satisfaction by continuing to solve their problems and keeping lines of communication clear. Anticipate your customer’s future hurdles and outline steps to avoid bottlenecks in sales. Make your customer’s needs your top priority.

Advocacy

If all of the previous phases are handled correctly, your customers will become your biggest advocates. Publicise their use-cases and their testimonials to influence their peers and competitors to consider your products. And when your customers recommend your products to others be sure to make the benefit mutual. Reward your customers for sharing their experiences with your brand and products to create a customer culture where loyalty and mutual reciprocity are at the core of each relationship.

Selling the benefits of Energy Technology to customers

From smart metering to tracking Greenhouse Gas Protocol Scopes 1, 2 and 3, energy technology is the future of all energy, not just renewable energy. In the future, your customers (and potential customers) will all interact with energy in far more intimate ways than in the past. They will have rooftop solar, charge their electric vehicles at home and use a battery to store excess energy that will power their smart refrigerator.

Every energy retailer should be looking to the future and understanding how they can provide the right, innovative products and services to fit those needs now. Energy retailers at the forefront of energy innovation will secure customer and brand loyalty far into the future.

If you enjoyed this article, please subscribe to our bi-monthly updates to receive the latest use-cases in renewable energy markets, energy transition, clean energy technology, energy tech innovation and energy finance.

Renewable Energy Customer Experience (RECX) was originally published in WePower on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Digital smart meters are a key technological component to improving our energy systems, but despite years on the market they are under-valued and under-utilised.

Smart meters provide real-time energy consumption data to energy providers and their customers, increasing awareness of energy consumption activities throughout the day and ultimately reducing costs for the consumer and reducing pressure on the energy grid.

But the benefits of smart meters go beyond solving today’s grid problems — they are changing the way customers and energy companies understand consumption profiles and plan for future energy demand. Smart meter data analytics mine electricity consumption data to improve consumption forecasting, thus creating money-saving insights for energy suppliers and their customers.

In addition to efficiency gains, the data sourced through smart meters is enabling new behaviour mechanics and novel products to emerge on the market in the form of new analytical software systems. However, the adoption of these new products in the market is reliant on energy providers and energy customers understanding the value of their smart meter data.

Basic Benefits to Energy Suppliers

Smart meters are changing the way energy suppliers operate. Smart meters stream data automatically, enabling utilities and energy retailers to save time and costs on collecting meter data. They also reduce the man hours necessary to connect and disconnect energy services when customers change energy suppliers or fail to pay for their energy consumption.

Real-time data tracking makes it easy for the data to be digitally delivered directly to the customer in a simple, user-friendly format. Customers with real-time dashboards can easily see the connection between the times of day they consume most of their energy and the impact it has on their energy bill. This may prompt customers to change the timing of their energy intensive processes.

When customers use less electricity during peak hours, utilities can reduce their reliance on expensive power plants to cover the peak electrical output. Utilities save money when the usage of electricity is more even across the day.

Data for Utilities

Customer smart-meter data is essential to grid planning for Energy Retailers and Utilities. When energy demand can’t be predicted the risk of brownouts and blackouts increases. Smart meter analytics enable energy providers to better avoid load-shedding and blackouts through the use of time-of-use billing.

Using smart data analytics, energy providers can understand demand patterns and vary the price of electricity throughout the day, making energy more expensive when demand is high and cheaper during off-peak hours. Pricing varied by the time of consumption provides financial incentives to companies to reduce their strain on the grid by deferring their energy-intensive operations to non-peak hours. Moreover, many smart technologies like electric vehicles use digital time-of-use data to charge their batteries at the time of day when electricity prices are at their lowest.

Utilising smart meter analytics is especially crucial when variable renewable energy generation is part of the energy mix. Wind and solar energy generation varies by the hour which means energy companies must track energy input versus energy consumption from the grid.

Smart meter data analytics can also help decision making during unforeseen peaks in demand. Understanding consumption patterns through meter data, energy distributors can avoid frequent load shedding events. When overt demand on the grid cannot be avoided, smart meter analytics can decipher and help cut electricity to non-essentials for short periods of time in order to avoid widespread, rolling blackouts.

Smart meter data analytics can also help energy providers make decisions around maintenance and infrastructure updates. Smart meters can detect basic voltage change events, the data of which can be analysed to detect line problems and power shortages.

Smart Data Analytics

The real value of smart meters lies in the analysis derived from smart meter data directly linked to the capabilities and the business process implementations in analytical systems. At WePower, we’re working at a granular level to take smart meter data to the next level, offering products and services that enable buyers and sellers to implement mutually beneficial business processes using analysis of energy data from smart meters. We are creating generation-linked products and meaningful processes that are changing the commercial and contractual approaches to energy.

To learn more about how WePower’s products can support your company, reach out to our CTO Kaspar Kaarlep at kaspar@wepower.com.

Please subscribe to our bi-monthly updates to receive the latest use-cases in renewable energy markets, energy transition, clean energy technology, energy tech innovation and energy finance.

Beyond Smart Meters was originally published in WePower on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

More and more, businesses are burdened to prove their sustainability. They buy renewable energy to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and avoid the subsequent emissions. But right now, proving sustainability is a cumbersome and expensive administrative process.

Gone are the days that companies bought renewable energy through a power purchase agreement (PPA), filed it away in the top drawer and called themselves clean and green. Regulatory bodies, investors and customers want proof that businesses are supported by renewable energy generation 24/7.

What is a Power Purchase Agreement ?

At its essence, a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) is an approach used to buy renewable energy. Not only does it provide long-term affordability, improved price visibility and budget certainty to help companies manage finances, it can also offer real cost savings. In addition, PPAs are linked to renewable energy sources, proving a company’s dedication to climate leadership — their bid to reduce their negative impact on the environment.

Behind the Meter vs. Grid

Renewable energy PPAs can be sourced from either behind-the-meter assets or grid-level assets. Behind the meter PPAs are suitable for industrial sites that have enough available space to house renewable generation assets like solar PV panels on site. Grid-level PPAs allow off-takers to source renewable energy from large, off-site industrial-sized generation assets like hydropower stations, solar farms, wind farms and battery storage systems.

Physical or Virtual

A PPA can be either physical or virtual. A physical PPA is a contract for the use of electrons directly at grid-level or behind the meter. A Virtual PPA is a financial contract for the renewable attributes of green electrons, not the actual electrons themselves. Because there is no physical delivery of power, the VPPA is a great option for large electricity consumers with a fragmented electric load to support the development of new renewable energy resources.

With a VPPA contract structure, an off-taker ( power buyer) agrees to purchase a project’s renewable energy for a pre-agreed price. The utility-scale solar/wind/hydro project receives the market price at the time the energy is sold into the grid. If the market price is greater than the fixed VPPA price, the off-taker receives the difference. This is referred to as a contract for difference. In this way, a virtual PPA acts as a financial hedge against volatile electricity prices. There are 101 ways to negotiate a PPA with a multitude of energy participants.

PPA Limitations

No matter the type, all PPAs are static. There is no traceable correlation between production and generation matching. It’s filed off in the top drawer, after all. This means, there is no proof that the energy purchased and consumed is totally green.

PPAs can also be cumbersome to negotiate and are not standardised across sites, therefore making emission calculations an arduous administrative process. Gathering all the generation and consumption data to calculate emissions is a full-time role within a global company with fragmented sites.

Digital PPAs (DPPAs)

Digital PPAs (DPPAs) are destined to become the top choice when buying renewable energy. A DPPA (no matter the asset location or commercial type) supports all constructs and commercial models and shows proof of how the renewable energy purchased matches your consumption.

To go a step further, a DPPA allows quick and seamless calculations of scope 2 GHG Protocol requirements. It also enables companies to innovate the way they manage their Scope 3 GHG Protocol. Due to digitising capability, one way of managing Scope 3 is through on-selling the renewable energy they own to their suppliers, taking businesses beyond compliance.

The cost of DPPAs will continue to be far less than any other renewable energy contract out there. Energy providers, be it energy brokers, energy retailers, utilities or independent power producers, will be able to go beyond renewable energy compliance and offer any off-taker the opportunity to reduce and/or eliminate their emissions and prove it without a doubt.

DPPAs are not futuristic. WePower has been digitising PPAs globally for over 5 years with trusted energy retailers, brokers, market facilitators, independent power producers and utilities. The digitised end-to-end approach of buying renewable energy supports calculating GHG Protocol Scopes 2 and 3 easily and readily, helping our customers showcase their climate leadership. Proving sustainability has become an essential part of every business and WePower is part of the transition and transformation.

If you enjoyed this article, please subscribe to our bi-monthly updates to receive the latest use-cases in renewable energy markets, energy transition, clean energy technology, energy tech innovation and energy finance.

Digital Renewable Power Purchase Agreements (DPPAs) was originally published in WePower on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The WePower team is growing!

We’re leading renewable energy technology innovation with the vision to drive decarbonisation and energy transition with our first-in-market products. Join us!

As a global tech scale-up, we’re proud to be a gender-balanced team. Our headquarters is based in Europe and our R&D office is in Melbourne, Australia. All roles are remote.

There are currently 2 open roles in the WePower team: Marketing Coordinator & International Sales Manager.

Marketing Coordinator

We are looking for a marketing coordinator to support our marketing team.

Marketing Coordinator Responsibilities:

• Implement marketing plans that include print, broadcast and online content.
• Manage social media engagement.
• Create branded customer campaigns, and support the sales and marketing teams by writing, coordinating and collating content.
• Manage and negotiate media coverage.
• Traffic all lead generation efforts to appropriate channels.
• Create, maintain and strengthen the organization’s overall brand through all media avenues.
• Organize and streamline service offerings into user-friendly concepts.
• Manage bloggers and other promotional vendors.
• Maintain strict confidentiality of sensitive information.
• Simplify complex data into a user-friendly format such as graphs, charts and other visual aids for clients and management.

Marketing Coordinator Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing/communications or related (preferred).
• Two years of experience in content management, creative writing, advertising concepts or media negotiations.
• B2B communications and marketing experience preferred.
• Critical thinker with strong problem-solving and research proficiencies.
• Expert knowledge of Content Management Systems (CMS).
• Ability to gather large amounts of data and convert it into meaningful analysis.
• Solid organizational skills and detail oriented.
• Ability to work under pressure and meet strict deadlines.
• Creative mind with superb written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to simplify complex information into a user-friendly format.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, Powerpoint, and in particular Photoshop and web editing packages.
• Ability to create professional infographics and short infographic videos is preferred but not essential.

Salary commensurate with experience.

Please send your CV and cover letter to team@wepower.network

International Sales Manager

We are looking for an experienced sales manager with technology sales background and or Energy sales background to sell globally. If you are well rounded in technology B2B sales and or have solid selling experience to energy companies and retailers and looking for a change, you are looking at the right place.

We are looking for representation in Europe, Latin America, Australia, Asia and the USA.

With work from home and a good team to support you, your success will be rewarded with the opportunity to build your own sales team globally.

Responsibilities include:

• Develop and expand a portfolio of energy retail / energy utility / energy broker clients by networking and marketing.
• Assess client needs and make recommendations.
• Prepare sales visits / calls / online meetings and presentations to pitch product, service, and combination packages to clients.
• Demonstrate IT solutions to highlight product benefits.
• Negotiate sales, and long-term contracts with clients.
• Establish sales goals and implements a plan to meet those goals.
• Track progress toward goals and documents sales performance. Must be proficient in using CRM systems.
• Become fluent in all products and services offered by the employer through testing, demonstrations, and research.
• Answer questions, describes benefits, and discusses pros and cons of various competing products or services.
• Gain familiarity with the Energy and Energy Technology industry, and stays updated on trends and innovative products.

Skills and Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or Marketing.
• Experience with Sales and Marketing.
• Minimum of 5 years Sales experience.
• Ability to meet goals and work under pressure.
• Written and Verbal Communication, Interpersonal Communication.
• Commercial Acumen and Negotiation, Critical Thinking skills.
• High Energy Level, Motivation, Ambition.
• Comfortable with software and technical Skills.
• Attention to Detail.
• Ability to use Word and PowerPoint proficiently.

Salary commensurate with experience, negotiable.

Please send your CV and cover letter to team@wepower.network

WePower is an equal opportunity company and welcomes all people with the skills, qualifications to apply.

Open Roles at WePower was originally published in WePower on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Happy 2022 and welcome to our 2022 WePower Outlook.

The energy sector is in transition to a lower-carbon future and most energy companies recognise where B2B and B2C customer trends are heading in the long-term: accessible, customised renewable energy products that fit consumption needs.

WePower technologies are purposed to increase renewable energy adoption among all consumers, recognising that the real solution for green energy adoption lies in creating an energy ecosystem that benefits all players: producers, sellers and consumers.

In 2022 we’ll be driving our vision of the energy transition even further with new partnerships and through sharing our knowledge of the energy transition from every angle (technology, finance, markets and innovation).

New Partnerships in 2022

We’re starting the new year with two new partnerships to support the global energy transition and drive sustainable innovation.

WePower has been invited to participate in SAP.iO Foundry Singapore’s first ever Sustainability Accelerator. As an official member of the SAP PartnerEdge Open Ecosystem, our technologies will deliver new business models for SAP customers.

Read more here and here.

We are partnering with Reuter Events to support their 2022 Utility Transition Summit event in March. The event will focus on the digital transformation of power, grid impact and how power and utility companies are adapting to the challenges of the energy transition.

Read more here: https://reutersevents.com/events/utility-transition/

Areas in Focus: Energy Technology, Energy Finance, Energy Markets and Energy Innovation

We started sharing our insights around the energy sector and the pathway to accelerating clean energy adoption in 2021, and this year we’ll be continuing, in full force, with each of our executives weighing in on their area of expertise.

Energy Technology is so much more than digitising traditional energy processes. Our CTO Kaspar Kaarlep will share his thoughts on the growth and impact of technology in the energy sector.

Energy Finance is a nuanced topic that deserves more clarity. Our CEO Nick Martyniuk will weigh in on renewable energy funding and how options are changing for companies large and small in 2022.

Energy Markets are always in flux, but the transition toward a low-carbon future is in full swing. Our CCO Huda Olsson will weigh in on the global energy markets over the year and bring you up-to-date insights.

Energy Innovation is everywhere, but not every innovation is driving renewable energy adoption. Our Chief Architect Kristjan Kuhi will share his knowledge of innovation in the energy sector and shed more light on how WePower technologies are driving energy innovation.

Subscribe here to stay up-to-date with WePower.

Outlook: 2022 at WePower was originally published in WePower on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

What is the difference between purchasing offsets and purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs)?

Companies looking to reduce their net-emissions often compare two financial products: Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) and Carbon Offsets. While both are intended to demonstrate a company’s efforts to reduce their carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, offsets and RECs are fundamentally different and not interchangeable.

Offsets

Offsets, or verified emissions reductions, compensate for the greenhouse gas emissions a company produces elsewhere. They are produced from external projects and are subtracted from an organization’s emissions to determine the net-organizational emissions, balancing a company’s direct and indirect emissions.

The market for carbon offsetting is driven by compliance and voluntary demand; compliance demand is created by government regulated caps on the total carbon dioxide emissions a company is allowed to emit. Voluntary offset demand is driven by consumer demand. Companies investing in their ‘green’ reputation may purchase offsets without being legally obligated to do so.

Offsets can be categorised as either project-based or nature-based. Project-based offsets like carbon-capture are man-made projects that remove carbon emissions from the atmosphere whereas nature-based offsets are natural sinks of net-emissions that occur naturally.

Purchasing nature-based offsets is controversial because the climate models on which we determine the carbon reductions necessary to avoid future climate catastrophes have already accounted for present and future natural sinks. Therefore, while purchasing nature-based offsets does reduce CO2 overall, the impact is not necessarily measurable.

Another type of ‘offset’ is the carbon credit. Carbon credits are purchased from governments and every carbon credit represents the right to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide. Companies pay for carbon credits to balance their emissions output with potential emissions removal in order to become net-zero. The controversy around purchasing carbon credits to offset emissions lies in the variable price. The global inconsistency in price means that the real impact of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions aren’t necessarily covered by the market carbon price in some regions. For example, carbon credits are much more expensive in Europe than in Asia, so an organisation vying for a cheaper ‘green’ strategy may purchase carbon credits at a fraction of the price necessary to cover the actual cost of their GHG emissions, and still call themselves “green”.

The larger problem with offsets overall is the lack of traceability. Many offsets sold to consumers cannot be directly traced back to the source. Without transparency, stakeholders are prone to buy into carbon reduction and offsetting schemes that may do little to reduce the concentration of carbon in the atmosphere. However, if researched and verified by the customer, purchasing offsets can be a legitimate approach to reducing net-emissions.

RECs

Another way for companies to showcase their commitment to sustainable practices is to purchase Renewable Energy Credits (RECs). RECs are always purchased from renewable energy generation projects. Every kilowatt of renewable energy produced is associated with a credit that can be bought and sold.

Companies powered by energy from the grid have no say in where their energy comes from. Coal-fired power plants, nuclear power plants and renewable energy power plants all feed electrons into the grid system which are then distributed to energy consumers.

However, by purchasing RECs, companies that are powered from the grid can claim the renewable attributes of those renewable energy kilowatts purchased via RECs because they are directly supporting a particular solar farm or wind farm that is feeding more green energy into the grid.

Moreover, RECs allow companies of every size to directly support renewable energy projects. A single REC represents 1MWh of renewable energy, which makes supporting renewable generation accessible to smaller companies.

But the current system of RECs is not the perfect solution. Today, most RECs lack a crucial time element and the ability to track the purchased kilowatts back to their source.

Time-bound RECs are objectively better for the climate because they ensure companies are claiming the kilowatts from the renewable energy at the time it is produced and pumped into the grid.

Why is this important? Most companies report their power consumption on an annual basis, and are only concerned that their overall electricity consumption in a given year is matched with their overall purchase of RECs. However, many companies are still operating at night, or at other times when variable renewable energy generation doesn’t cover their electricity consumption. Unless they are storing excess renewable generation in batteries, these companies are reliant on fossil fuels for at least some of their power, and should not claim to be 100% green. With time-bound RECs, their reliance on fossil fuels cannot be easily hidden from the public in their annual reports.

Finally, companies that purchase RECs need to be able to provide traceable proof of their sustainability commitments. Many well-intentioned companies are being accused of greenwashing because they can’t track their RECs back to the source. Though these companies have taken steps to reduce their GHG emissions, their inability to prove it leaves their reputation marred.

That’s why real-time energy tracking technology is crucial. Today, many companies report their energy consumption and emissions manually, which can take months or even years to accurately report. With real-time tracking through innovative technologies, companies can demonstrate and improve their sustainability positions, helping to manage regulatory and stakeholder expectations.

The race to zero emissions

When evaluating offsets against RECs it is obvious that one will move us toward a zero-emissions world much faster.

While offsets remove GHG emissions from the atmosphere, RECs work to prevent those emissions from existing in the first place and create demand within the renewable energy market. Companies would be wise to choose trackable, transparent instruments to transform their sustainability strategies into reality.

Learn more how our solutions can help in your company’s sustainability journey.

What is the difference between purchasing offsets and purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates… was originally published in WePower on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The WePower newsletter has officially launched! We’re looking forward to staying connected with community through our bi-monthly updates.

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WePower October Update was originally published in WePower on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.