If you have a solar installation which receives Feed in Tariff (FiT) payments, and you currently receive payments for export (without an export meter installed at your site) referred to on your bill as ‘deemed’ export payments - please read on...
By Candace Robb and Max Knowles
Right now there is a lot of noise about how much you can get for exporting renewable energy in the current energy crisis.
If you are currently in receipt of deemed export rates for your solar installation, you may not be seeing much uplift for the energy that you push back to the grid. It is likely to be in the region of 3.5p/kWh. However, there are a few things to consider when figuring out if it’s worth you switching over to a PPA or not.
If you decide to change your deemed export rate tariff to a ‘standard’ export deal, also known as a Power Purchase Agreement or PPA you will need to install an export meter. Doing so will surrender your access to your deemed rates and you will not be able to switch back again for the duration of your FiT eligibility (15-20 years dependent on the length of your contract).
When deciding if it is worth the switch to a PPA the key element is to understand how much power is being generated on site - that is not being used - and is therefore being pushed back onto the grid. With a 'traditional' PPA, this is the level of power which you will receive your payments on, as opposed to a 'deemed' PPA, which will pay out based on the assumed level of continuous export from your site.
Things to consider:
- Export metering and PPAs come with annual fees and costs for installing and maintaining the metering equipment and depending on size, generation and use, could cancel out anything that you might make on selling your energy.
- Exporting during the energy crisis can seem lucrative but there will be a correction at some point and rates will return to a more normal price.
- Export will only pay for what you actually export to the grid whereas the deemed tariff pays for half of your generation regardless.
- Finally, at this time you will gain more by using the energy yourself as the import costs are very high.
Talk to the us to understand more about how switching export contracts could impact your payments on [email protected] or 024 7669 6512.