Eden Project joins the UK’s first online peer-to-peer renewable energy market

The Eden Project is joining Piclo, a revolutionary trial challenging the energy industry norms for electricity choice and efficiency.

The Cornwall-based visitor attraction and educational charity signed up to be part of the six-month Piclo trial, which began October 1. Piclo is a collaboration between energy startup Open Utility and green energy provider Good Energy.  The service is the UK’s first online market for renewable energy, allowing consumers and generators to buy and sell renewable energy directly.

Piclo brings the ‘sharing economy’ to the energy industry, as part of the global movement disrupting industries through apps, new business models and digital technology. The peer-to-peer energy market hands control back to the customer. Piclo gives consumers and generators the tools and data needed to have complete choice and control over pricing and consumption.

Piclo takes in all the price and preference information and matches electricity demand and supply every half hour of the day. Good Energy help ensure that the marketplace is always balanced, purchasing surplus power or providing 100% renewable top-up when required.

The Eden Project can use Piclo to unlock local energy markets. The online service allows the Eden Project to select local generators as its main supplier, creating a Cornwall-based energy market.

Piclo is available across the UK. Generators are signed up across England, Wales and Scotland, including Broadmoor Farm Solar (50kW solar farm in Dorset), Community Power Cornwall (160kW installation in Cornwall), Sustainable Hockerton (225kW wind turbine in Nottinghamshire) and Waterditch Dairy (a 100kW solar farm in Hampshire).

Open Utility and Good Energy have partnered to trial Piclo for six months. Energy trading for generator and consumers begins on October 1st, while Piclo launches publicly in November. The innovative project is funded by The Energy Entrepreneurs Fund scheme run by The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the UK’s leading Tech for Good funder, Nominet Trust.

Piclo is currently accepting half-hourly settled generation and consumption sites. For more information and to register your interest, visit the Piclo website (www.piclo.uk).

Juliet Davenport, Good Energy CEO and founder: It’s great news that Eden Project is joining this visionary project. It’ll be really interesting to see how Piclo’s ground breaking technology will transform the energy market. Just like Good Energy, Eden Project is all about being a catalyst for positive change and this is something we passionately support as a pioneering independent energy supplier.

James Johnston, Open Utility CEO and co-founder: “Eden Project is an incredibly forward-thinking organisation that are pushing the boundaries of sustainability.

“They’re challenging preconceptions about what is possible to do, what is possible to build, and they’ve created this amazing environment that delights everyone who goes there. To power these biomes, they need a lot of electricity – and what better to source this electricity from efficient, local renewable generators.

“We’re looking forward to having Eden Project as part of Piclo, as the online service represents a step change for the energy industry. From October, we will be one step closer to our vision of a local, low cost and democratised energy industry.”

Gus Grand, Head of Policy at the Eden Project, said: “We’re pleased and proud to be part of the Piclo trial. Eden has a long history of supporting renewable energy generation and we feel that Piclo has the potential to revolutionise the energy market, connecting customers with their energy suppliers in a way that hasn’t previously been possible.”