PPA, BPA, self-consumption consultant

Assessment

Pulsener conducts an assessment of organizations, facilities, solutions, and ecosystems already in place within businesses. The objective of this stage is to accurately identify or define :

• Environmental objectives: notably greenhouse gas reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions,
• Existing energy procurement and sales strategies and contracts,
• Current risk management arrangements,
• Current sources of renewable energy procurement,
• Consumption profiles of sites and their potential modulation (consumption shifting, demand response),
• Production profiles of existing production facilities,
• Real estate assets capable of hosting production installations,
• Geographical distribution of sites to be supplied with renewable energy,
• Available investment capacities or expected financing arrangements.

Renewable energy procurement strategies

Our consultants assist companies in developing their renewable energy procurement strategy at the scale of a Group, country, region, specific territory, real estate or industrial park, or site.

The scenarios and trajectories proposed by our teams aim to optimize and finely balance the economic and environmental performance of companies. We align our studies with the ESG criteria and policies chosen by our clients: SBTi, GHG Protocol, ACT method of ADEME, CDP.

Therefore, our strategies are based on concrete and operationally feasible solutions to provide maximum assurance to our clients in achieving their set objectives.

• Technical and economic consultancy for the development of energy production facilities,
• Optimization of energy production valorization solutions,
• Arbitration and sequencing of integration into a portfolio of solutions :
  • Individual self-consumption,
  • Collective self-consumption,
  • Onsite PPA,
  • Offsite PPA,
  • Physical or virtual (financial) PPA,
  • Purchase of Guarantees of Origin for ideally “remaining” volumes.
• Verification of the strategy’s consistency with the selected ESG criteria,
• Adaptation to the legal and regulatory constraints of the energy market,

Our expertise also enables us to work on various solutions related to biomethane procurement and integrate them into corporate energy transition strategies.

Planning and implementation of renewable energy strategy

As a multidisciplinary energy consulting firm, we collaborate with our clients to develop concrete roadmaps for the operational implementation of previously established renewable energy procurement strategies.

Our consultants can support the realization of corporate strategies at various levels :

• Solarization plan for buildings, roofs, and available real estate assets,
• Solarization plan for carports,
• Consultation and negotiation of PPAs, BPAs, and support for various forms of self-consumption,
• Consultation on energy production valorization,
• Origination,
• Feasibility studies,
• Connecting with trusted partners for the execution of validated projects.

Some direct renewable electricity purchase contracts from producers – referred to as PPAs or Power Purchase Agreements – present serious opportunities for companies and purchasing cohort to :

• Support their energy transition through a virtuous electricity procurement process,
• Secure or hedge all or part of their electricity procurement budgets with prices decoupled from energy futures markets.

Pulsener offers various solutions to companies and business groups to better understand the complexity and inherent risks of these contractual tools and facilitate the implementation of PPAs.

PPA Integration Strategy

The development of a PPA integration strategy into an energy procurement portfolio is a crucial step. It allows for :

• Identification and thorough assessment of various risks associated with such contracts,
• Identification of consumption profiles and volumes to be covered,
• Calibration of production profiles and volumes compatible with consumption elements through expected technologies: photovoltaic, wind, hydro,
• Definition of PPA typologies to deploy :
  • On-site self-consumption PPAs, off-site PPAs,
  • Greenfield PPAs, Brownfield PPAs depending on the commitment to additionality,
  • Physical PPAs (sleeved PPA), financial PPAs (also known as virtual PPAs), Merchant PPAs, or Utility PPAs,
  • Local, national, or cross-border PPAs,
  • PPAs with short, medium, or long durations: from 1 to 25 years.
• Assessment of impacts related to PPA contracting: IFRS standards, contractual structures,
• Definition of financing modalities, potential investments in production facilities, and project carrying structures if applicable,
• Alignment of CSR and financial objectives to propose a clear and achievable trajectory,
• Coherent planning and phasing of different PPA projects over time.

PPA : risk management tool

A power purchase agreement can be considered as a risk management tool related to energy markets.

In pursuit of the perfect hedge, medium or long-term price visibility for electricity procurement, or reducing direct exposure to energy market volatility, our consultants assist companies in integrating these instruments into their electricity procurement strategy.

PPA : energy transition tool

PPAs are also valuable tools for companies in their energy transition efforts, particularly in reducing Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions.

From acquiring guarantees of origin through a Merchant PPA negotiated with an energy supplier to obtaining guarantees of origin directly from a production facility specifically developed for a company’s needs, the environmental quality of renewable electricity procurement varies from one PPA to another.

Our PPA experts also guide companies towards solutions that are most aligned with their sustainable development policies.

PPA sourcing and tendering

Pulsener also works on executing strategies alongside companies. Our teams actively identify renewable electricity production facilities and projects available on the market that can be made accessible to businesses through PPAs.

Our consultants are by our clients’ side to negotiate the various terms of PPAs, ensuring a balanced risk distribution and a consistent PPA price level.

Multi-buyer PPA

In Europe, companies are already procuring renewable electricity through multi-buyer PPAs as part of procurement cohort.

Our expert consultants are available to assist companies and procurement cohort considering:

• Forming a consortium to access the PPA market,
• Reducing scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions by engaging their major industrial suppliers in a collective renewable energy purchasing initiative,
• Upsizing a PPA to make part of it available to third parties.

A Biomethane Purchase Agreement (BPA) is a contract for the supply of natural gas negotiated directly with a biomethane producer.

As we enter 2024, this natural gas supply solution is outside the market from an economic standpoint. Nevertheless, it remains a significant lever for energy transition and risk management related to the volatility of natural gas markets.

Our consultants work with companies willing to:

• Conduct prospective studies on BPAs,
• Compare their ideas with the economic reality of the biomethane market,
• Source biomethane producers,
• Initiate contract negotiations.

Self-consumption can be identified as the most obvious and straightforward tool for renewable energy procurement for businesses. Supplying a site with energy produced on-site or nearby appears as a highly advantageous model.

However, understanding and analyzing the stakes and available options are crucial for implementing such solutions. These options include :

• Individual self-consumption,
• Collective self-consumption,
• On-site Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).

The financing schemes of production facilities are also crucial considerations, as are the modalities for creating financial vehicles to support projects or establishing a Legal Entity Organizer (PMO) in the case of collective self-consumption.

Furthermore, accounting for self-consumed renewable energy is a significant factor in various non-financial reports (such as DPEF, CSRD, or green taxonomy) and environmental reports of companies. Indeed, the impact in reports of individual self-consumption without the issuance of guarantees of origin is different from that of on-site PPAs with the issuance of GO, for example.

Pulsener offers comprehensive support to companies interested in self-consumption to:

• Conduct a feasibility study on a project,
• Ensure consistency in the selection of the self-consumption model,
• Support the creation of financial vehicles and the drafting of their business models,
• Find financing solutions if necessary,
• Tender market actors capable of optimizing the technical and financial operation of a self-consumption facility.

Assistance with energy production market entry

Pulsener collaborates with energy producers and developers of power plants or biomethane facilities to optimize the valorization of the produced energy.

After analyzing and validating the valorization scheme with our teams, our consultants can also find market opportunities for producers in various forms:

• Identifying consumers looking for corporate PPAs.
• Identifying energy companies seeking Utility PPAs.
• Tendering with suppliers and energy aggregators to establish an optimized sales formula on the markets with access to a trading floor.