Knowledge Up, Carbon Down

Welcome to the Knowledge Up, Carbon Down series.
We want you to master the transformation to renewable energy in Australia, leading communities into the
zero-carbon world with ZEN. Click play and learn more about the Energy industry terms.

 

EPISODE 2 – What is a PPA?

Transcript

Hi all! Welcome to our second instalment of Knowledge Up, Carbon Down.

Today we will be talking about a PPA with a grid-scale asset.
A PPA stands for Power Purchase Agreement, and it is a long-term agreement between a buyer and a seller of electricity at a fixed price.

The benefits of the PPA is that it reduces the time to market risk for an organisation and increases the sustainability metrics. The traditional approach of a PPA was for an organisation to contract a PPA directly with the renewable energy asset. This comes with a higher level of risk for the organisation. An example of this is my solar farm here and this is the generation curve. If an organisation is consuming outside of the times when the solar farm is generating, then they are exposed to the volatile Wholesale market.

A different approach is a lower-risk alternative, where a retailer, such as ZEN Energy, takes on that risk for the organisation. We take on the risk and package up the renewable energy contract into a low-risk simple, and finance-friendly offering, meaning that you are getting your renewable energy at times when you needed, at a price that is certain.

So just to recap, a PPA is a Power Purchase Agreement which is a long-term agreement between a buyer and a seller.

Thanks for joining us today, and please give us a thumbs up if you enjoyed the video.

Knowledge Up, Carbon Down

Welcome to the Knowledge Up, Carbon Down series.
We want you to master the transformation to renewable energy in Australia, leading communities into the
zero-carbon world with ZEN. Click play and learn more about the Energy industry terms.

 

EPISODE 1 – MW x MWh

Transcript

Hi, my name is Lara Reid; I work at ZEN Energy.

I get laughed at a little bit in the office because I love a whiteboard. But I’m going to use my trusty whiteboard here today to explain the difference between
Megawatts and Megawatt hours.

So, we’ve got a hypothetical solar farm scenario here.  Stay with me on the bucket; that will make sense later on.

This solar farm is a 10-megawatt farm. So that’s the installed capacity of the solar farm. It’s going to run for two hours at optimal weather conditions, and it’s going to generate
20 Megawatt hours of electricity over that period of time, and that’s what they are permitting.

Another way to think about that is a hose in a bucket scenario. So in this scenario, it’s the size of the hose, which is measured in Megawatts, and it’s the volume of the bucket that’s measured in Megawatt hours. A one-megawatt hose running for five hours will produce five-megawatt hours of volume.

Just to recap, Megawatts is installed capacity and Megawatt hours is electricity generated.

I hope you find that helpful, and if so, give us a thumbs up.

A ZEN night before Christmas

T’was the night before Christmas, when all through the office
The ZEN team were busy applying a poultice,
To the worn out feet of ZEN’s tired sales lead,
Who’d had one big year pitching the renewable creed.

ZEN’s customers were nestled, all snug in bed,
Knowing they’d chosen to help the environment instead,
Of sending more coal smoke up into the air.
They were sleeping so soundly, with nary a care!

When outside there came, in a silent descent,
A jolly old fellow with 100 percent
Green electricity powering the red nose of his reindeer ride,
He polished it and primped it with much glowing pride.

ZEN’s customers knew for sure, right away,
It was Santa aboard his brand-new ZEN sleigh.
Delivering a pile of Christmas delight,
To families everywhere all through the night.

“To be part of this 1.5 degree journey,
Means that I no longer need my Christmas attorney,
To cover my arse for all the pollution.
ZEN’s super team delivered the solution!

We’re away on our journey to be 100% green.
It’s the best Christmas present that I’ve ever seen!
I’m so proud to sign up to this collective alchemy,
It makes me want to laugh, dance and shimmy!”

To all of our partners, customers, and friends,
Thanks for joining our journey, you know where it ends:
With Australia as a green Superpower
And ZEN adding renewables each single hour!

And ZEN’s customers heard Santa say,
As he jumped into his snazzy ZENLECTRIC sleigh,
And headed on into the night,

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!

A ZEN night before Christmas

T’was the night before Christmas, when all through the office
The ZEN team were busy applying a poultice,
To the worn out feet of ZEN’s tired sales lead,
Who’d had one big year pitching the renewable creed.

ZEN’s customers were nestled, all snug in bed,
Knowing they’d chosen to help the environment instead,
Of sending more coal smoke up into the air.
They were sleeping so soundly, with nary a care!

When outside there came, in a silent descent,
A jolly old fellow with 100 percent
Green electricity powering the red nose of his reindeer ride,
He polished it and primped it with much glowing pride.

ZEN’s customers knew for sure, right away,
It was Santa aboard his brand-new ZEN sleigh.
Delivering a pile of Christmas delight,
To families everywhere all through the night.

“To be part of this 1.5 degree journey,
Means that I no longer need my Christmas attorney,
To cover my arse for all the pollution.
ZEN’s super team delivered the solution!

We’re away on our journey to be 100% green.
It’s the best Christmas present that I’ve ever seen!
I’m so proud to sign up to this collective alchemy,
It makes me want to laugh, dance and shimmy!”

To all of our partners, customers, and friends,
Thanks for joining our journey, you know where it ends:
With Australia as a green Superpower
And ZEN adding renewables each single hour!

And ZEN’s customers heard Santa say,
As he jumped into his snazzy ZENLECTRIC sleigh,
And headed on into the night,

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!

Image showing the Waubra Wind Farm in Victoria. ZEN Energy's latest offtake agreement

Image Credit: ACCIONA Energía

About ACCIONA Energía

ACCIONA Energía is the largest 100% renewable energy company with no fossil legacy in the world. It has 11.2GW of renewable energy and commercial operations in 20 countries. With 30 years of experience, ACCIONA Energía offers a complete portfolio of tailor-made energy solutions for its corporate and institutional clients to meet their decarbonization goals. ACCIONA Energía is committed to the highest environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) standards. ACCIONA S.A., a leading global company in the provision of regenerative solutions for a decarbonized economy, is the reference shareholder of ACCIONA Energía. www.acciona-energia.com

Energy Industry expert, Paula Conboy joins ZEN Energy’s Board of Directors.

11 August 2022.

ZEN Energy welcomes Paula Conboy as an Independent Director.

Paula has over 25 years of experience as regulatory economist, consultant, senior executive, adjudicator, chair, and board member. She is the former Chair of the Australian Energy Regulator and member of Australia’s Energy Security Board working on various policies needed in the transition to net zero. Paula is also a former Commissioner of the Ontario Energy Board and has served as a senior executive of PowerStream, one of the largest municipal owned utilities in Canada.

“We’re thrilled to have Paula joining our team, at a key stage in ZEN Energy’s growth. We believe Paula will bring fresh and diverse insights to the Board through her extensive knowledge, experience, and connections in the Australian and global energy sectors,” said Raymond Spencer, ZEN Energy’s Chair of the Board.

Paula currently serves on the board of directors of PJM Interconnection LLP in the United States and the Energy Market Authority in Singapore. In addition to running her own advisory services business, Paula is Senior Counsel to Sussex Strategy Group Inc., a leading policy and political consultancy, and works with Australian and Canadian clients in various areas of the energy and broadband sectors.

“I truly believe that Australia is well placed to be a global leader in the run to net zero. I am excited to be part of the dedicated team at ZEN Energy whose mission is to make that happen,” said Paula.

ZEN partners with the SACOME Joint Electricity Purchasing Group to secure more clean energy for South Australia.

Underpinned by the long-term commitment from the South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy (SACOME) Joint Electricity Purchasing Group, ZEN Energy has penned an innovative agreement with Vena Energy to purchase renewable energy from the 87 MW Tailem Bend 2 Solar Project. This new solar energy project will provide more sustainable energy into the South Australian grid and is another significant step to achieving South Australia’s net zero by 2030 goal, benefitting South Australian businesses and the wider community.

The Tailem Bend 2 Project is located approximately 90km southeast of Adelaide.

The energy from this project will support ZEN’s South Australian customers including the SACOME Joint Electricity Purchasing Group. SACOME supported the project through their commitment to a long-term contract with ZEN, commencing in 2019. Customers under the SACOME joint electricity purchasing group contract include the majority of local Foodland and IGA supermarkets, Viterra, Central Irrigation Trust, Adchem and Hillgrove Resources.

”ZEN Energy’s agreement with Vena Energy to purchase renewable energy from the Tailem Bend 2 Solar Project fulfils the intent of SACOME’s Joint Electricity Purchasing Group to underpin new electricity generation in South Australia,” said SACOME CEO, Rebecca Knol.

“This once again highlights the benefits of collaboration across sectors, providing affordable power to some of South Australia’s largest energy users while supporting the development of new renewable power generation for the collective benefit of the state.”

Tailem Bend 2 Solar Project is being constructed adjacent to the Tailem Bend 1 Solar Project, which commenced operation in May 2019 and is expected to achieve commercial operation in the first half of 2023. Once operational, It will be capable of supplying the equivalent of approximately 35,000 homes with clean energy annually, reducing more than 207,000 tons of CO 2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

“The energy transition is about building more renewable energy and storage assets, like Tailem Bend 2,” said ZEN Energy CEO, Anthony Garnaut.

Anthony continued, “there’s a chain of commitments that’s needed to make this happen. The members of the SACOME Joint Electricity Purchasing Group engaged with ZEN on a long-term basis, allowing us to, in turn, secure the output of this new generation asset on a long-term basis, creating revenue certainty for new capital deployment into new, long-term assets for Australia.”

“We are constantly looking to innovate how we engage with our partners. Tailem Bend 2 is underpinned by an innovative power purchase agreement which ultimately brings benefits to all involved.”

“We deeply value our partnership with Vena Energy, the developer of the project. Together, we have crafted a project model that will underpin our ongoing work with Vena Energy and others, and we are proud to be their partner. This is the first of several agreements that ZEN is seeking to finalise in the next 12-18 months as we pursue our mission to lead communities into the zero-carbon world.”

About the SACOME Joint Electricity Purchasing Group

The SACOME Joint Electricity Purchasing Group brings together manufacturing, retail, agriculture, and resources companies in a landmark bulk electricity deal to deliver affordable and reliable power supply to some of South Australia’s largest energy uses. The current eight-year supply contract was awarded to ZEN Energy in June 2018 to significantly bring down the cost of electricity for its members and to support the development of new renewable generation within South Australia. The ACCC approved buying group originally arose out of discussions amongst its members on how to respond to rising electricity costs after the close of the Northern Power Station. By aggregating load, ZEN was able to back demand for new renewable power generation and offer lower pricing to the group’s members.

About Vena Energy

Vena Energy is a leading renewable energy company in the Asia-Pacific region that owns, develops, constructs, operates, manages, and commercialises a renewable energy portfolio totalling 18 GW (1) of solar, onshore wind, offshore wind, battery storage, green hydrogen, and hybrid renewable energy projects. Vena Energy has a fully integrated business model and an extensive local presence throughout the region with 67 corporate and site offices in Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. Vena Energy is committed to engaging with local communities throughout the lifecycle of its portfolio projects, as well as incorporating internationally recognized Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards into its strategy and business practices. For more information, please visit www.venaenergy.com.

1. Includes all assets in operation, construction, contracted, and development stages.