Our people: A chat with our Merchant Wind Manager, George
Press enquiries
If you are a journalist with a media enquiry, please contact our Press Office by email at pressoffice@ecotricity.co.uk
For all other general enquiries, please call 0345 555 7100 or email home@ecotricity.co.uk.
For over two decades, we’ve been helping companies go green. If you use over 1GWh a year, our Merchant Wind Power scheme can save you money and cut your firm’s carbon footprint.
We’ll build, own, operate and maintain the turbines at no risk or cost to your company. It’s green energy that comes with a stunning environmental signpost!
We recently sat down with George Dale, our Merchant Wind Account Manager, to find out more about what he does and how he’s got to this point.
In 2001, we built the UK's first ever on-site commercial windmill at the Sainsbury's Distribution Depot in Scotland.
So, George, can you describe your job for us?
When I joined Ecotricity, I came onboard as the Merchant Wind Account Manager – fast forward a year and a half, and I’m now more of a Merchant Energy Account Manager, as we have other means of generating electricity now, most notably from the sun. Merchant power uses behind-the-meter generation, which involves connecting generation onsite to reduce reliance on the grid.
Whilst you might not know it, you’re likely familiar with behind-the-meter generation. Take solar panels on a domestic roof, for example – this is a kind of behind-the-meter generation, just on a smaller scale than I work with. We’re talking MW rather than KW.
Merchant energy is pivotal – it describes generation which is mounted behind the customer’s meter. The electricity grid was built in the 1930s to transport power from coal fields, where the power stations were, to the factories; however, we don’t have any coal fields left in the UK (hooray!), so the grid is both old and in the wrong place. It’s no longer up to scratch for what we need.
The grid needs vast upgrades to be able to support our plans for more green energy. The great thing about behind-the-meter generation is that it doesn’t, by and large, go onto the grid - it’s not ‘off-grid’, but it’s largely produced and used without troubling the power grid, which leaves more room for other forms of generation which do rely on the grid.
That sounds really interesting and like there’s a lot going on behind the scenes for behind-the-meter! What does your job look like on a day-to-day basis?
My day-to-day work is mostly renegotiating power purchase agreements (PPAs). That involves, first of all, working out what we should be charging our Merchant customers in order to cover our costs and make sufficient profit to give comfort to our funders.
So, what are the costs of generation? I gather cost information from a few different departments:
Finance
Generation
Operations & Maintenance
I then work to add up these costs and divide them by the average annual generation, to give a cost-per-kWh for that site. That is the basis of the price to the customer.
Since the electricity is generated on-site, there are no pass-through costs - 'delivery costs' if you like - so these savings, which amount to between a third and a half of the grid electricity costs, can be shared with the customer.
The other ingredient is the wording of the new PPA contract (and possibly a new lease) - who is responsible for what, how we will conduct ourselves, what is covered by whom for how long etc.
Armed with this information, I then negotiate a price and the wording of the PPA with the customer, with help from our Legal team.
The contract then has to go through the governance process of both Ecotricity and the customer.
Finally, the PPA has to be approved by our funders, at which point it can be signed by the directors of both Ecotricity and the customer.
So how did you get to where you are today?
I joined Greenpeace in the 1980s, as I’ve been interested in green issues for a long time – it started out as a mission to save the whales, but soon grew into so much more. In the 1990s, my Dad had a heat pump half the size of a car, so green energy has been part of my life and my heritage for a long time.
Then I worked in the NHS for 20 years, in the middle of which I completed a Master's degree at CAT (the Centre for Alternative Technology) – my degree was in REBE, Renewable Energy and the Built Environment. There I studied everything from heat loss prevention to generating gas from anaerobic digestion, via solar and wind generation.
That sounds very up our street! You recently went back to the Centre of Alternative Technology (CAT) to present at their annual conference – how was that, being back at your alma mater?
It’s always great to be back there – CAT are ecological royalty. The audience was full of mechanical and electrical engineers, green entrepreneurs, financiers and fellow graduates working for a greener future, as well as those who just believe in the importance of halting carbon emissions and rebuilding biodiversity, for our children and our grandchildren.
CAT is situated in the beautiful countryside outside Machynlleth, Wales, and they also get their grid energy from Ecotricity, which just highlights their unrivalled commitment to eliminating carbon emissions in every way.
What were some of your key takeaways from the conference?
I attended a very interesting workshop on retrofit insulation. You might not realise, but insulation is something you can do very wrong. As you put insulation on a wall, you get a temperature gradient – that describes the direction of heat flow and the rate at which the temperature changes most drastically around a location. As the air cools down, dew forms and you get condensation. This can harm the fabric of the building, but if it happens in the middle of insulation, that’s bad in a lot of ways – could you even get legionnaires’ disease (a severe form of pneumonia)?
You have to be sure you’re doing it right, which is why the courses run by CAT are so important.
That’s really interesting, thanks for explaining that! Along the same train of thought, can you tell us some of your top energy saving tips?
The low-hanging fruit would be insulation - just make sure you do it right! There are so many levels to it, and maybe you can start just by investing in an old-fashioned draught excluder for your doors. Insulation also wins pound-for-pound invested,
If you’re able to, get solar panels installed on your roof and make the most of using the energy you’re generating yourself. Plus, you can get paid for the extra that you export to the grid – it's a win-win.
If home-solar doesn’t work for you, there are opportunities to invest in co-operative wind farms, saving carbon emissions as well as saving money on your energy bills.
And how does our Merchant Power scheme fit into our mission for a greener Britain?
It saves grid costs, it saves the load on the grid, and it means you can get installations financed that you couldn’t if they were spilling just to the grid.
If we’re using energy from the grid less, we’ll need to rely on the grid less – it’s all part of the greater task of balancing supply and demand.
We built an on-site windmill for B&Q in 2009 at their distribution centre in Nottinghamshire.
Any parting words of wisdom before we wrap up?
The best kWh is the one that isn’t used. Be mindful of where and when you’re using energy, and make sure to turn things off when they’re not needed.
Plus, behind-the-meter generation improves financeability so it’s a sound business choice for those wanting to green up and improve their credit.
Interested in behind-the-meter generation for your business?
Get in touch today to find out more – just give our Business team a call on 0345 600 1994 or email business.sales@ecotricity.co.uk
Ready to start turning your bills into mills?
Switch to Ecotricity and we’ll use your bill money to build new sources of renewable energy and build a greener Britain.
Similar articles
Our people: A chat with our Merchant Wind Manager, George
For over two decades, we’ve been helping companies go green. If you use over 1GWh a year, our Merchant Wind Power scheme can save you money and cut your firm’s carbon footprint.
We’re supporting the Deep Blue Crew – here’s why you should too
We’re proud to support the Deep Blue Crew in the World’s Toughest Row, which will see the team of four row an incredible 3000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean in the name of three charities.
Ecotricity Explains: How to bleed a radiator
A recent government study found that 90% of homes in England have a boiler system with radiators as the main way to heat their property. But how often do you bleed your radiators?