Our mission
We are a social enterprise with a mission to enable local energy users to access low carbon energy at scale in a way that is affordable, fair and breaks down social barriers.
About us
Power Circle has been developed with support from Innovate UK, the Energy Systems Catapult and Scottish Government. We serve the whole of the UK.
It has been designed to address both the barriers which building, or site owners and developers face in seeking to introduce or scale up low carbon solutions and the opportunities presented by the new energy world.
The trends visible in the new energy world are sometimes summed up as the three D’s: decarbonisation, decentralisation and digitalisation. We add a fourth D: democratisation.
The challenge
Rising energy costs are making energy less affordable to all energy users and particularly to low income communities which are experiencing rising levels of fuel poverty.
Building and site owners face the big challenge of meeting climate change and energy targets in a way which keeps energy affordable and which reduces rather than adds to fuel poverty.
Our solutions can help meet this challenge.
Our solution
Smart local energy systems (SLES)
What is an SLES?
Any set of energy assets within a building or local area which are managed together, using smart technology, to optimise their operation. At a wider level we will optimise further by managing a portfolio of SLES across the UK.
Smart Local Energy Systems (SLES) are central to our service offering
We have developed a number of SLES project types.
Please watch the video for more detail.
Benefits of the Power Circle Approach
- Lower Capital Cost with Power Circle esco – the Power Circle proposition enables low carbon solutions to be installed with low/no capital cost to the customer and without energy management responsibility to the customer.
- Meeting regulatory requirements without adding to capital cost and within available staff expertise and resources
- Affordability for the energy user – reducing not adding to fuel poverty
- Social ownership model – this enables social stakeholders, if they wish to, to share in ownership and control, without requiring a funding commitment on their part.
- Flexibility – the flexibility in approach enables us to design solutions
on the basis of customer’s risk appetite, investment ability etc. - Potential income – customers may benefit from additional
income from the project depending on project structure
How does it work?
We work with you to:
- Identify good onsite and local energy opportunities
- Develop project structures that meet your available funding and risk appetite
- Structure funding for projects
- Provide project development, management, option appraisal and business case preparation expertise for both client-owned and third party funded projects
- Operate our portfolio of projects as a Virtual Power Plant that sells grid services and exports electricity through a third-party aggregator.
- For large projects there is scope for social stakeholders to become members of our parent, Power Circle Ltd, a company limited by guarantee, and thereby share in shaping the strategic direction of the company.
Challenges Power Circle addresses
- Meeting climate change and energy targets whilst also reducing fuel poverty
- Small capital budgets
- Complex, evolving market requiring new relationships.
- Need to understand the value of grid services and complex tariff structures.
- Lack of staff time or knowledge and expertise to develop business cases and deliver solutions
- Lack of trust in commercial third party funded solutions. As a social enterprise, our focus is on the benefits to customers and local stakeholders.
Discover more about our projects
Click on the images below to download
Latest news
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