Customizing the PPA for Smaller-Scale Clean Energy Adopters
How Apex plans to leverage the power of group purchasing for corporate renewable energy buyers.
In the same way that no two wind farms are the same, every corporation is different.
One unifying trend, however, is clear. Leading companies throughout the Fortune 500—and beyond—are taking action to procure renewable energy.
Apex is committed to developing flexible and creative solutions to meet this rising demand. The process begins with our inventory of quality projects throughout the country and our experienced team of more than 200 professionals. Successful projects require the right combination of landowners; wind resource; science and technology; equipment and construction; operations and maintenance; financing partners; and utility, municipal, and corporate customers. In order to accelerate the shift to clean energy, we solve for the combination of variables that will deliver a quality project at each stage of the process. Our next effort is to accelerate the rate at which corporations that have smaller electricity demands—but the same large goals for future growth and purpose—procure renewable energy.
By leveraging the power of group purchasing, smaller companies can obtain the best pricing and PPA terms, learn from review and analysis performed by their peers, and streamline the negotiations.
Uniquely Positioned to Expand the
Corporate Renewable Market
Through our work with dozens of top corporations and entities—including IKEA, Steelcase, the U.S. Department of Defense, and many more—we have learned firsthand what it takes to develop a successful energy partnership. Each company has different needs, and the scope of those requirements can be as diverse as the products and services the company delivers. Leading priorities range from energy security to carbon risk management, energy price hedging, and environmental stewardship. Apex believes that the next wave of corporate procurement will come from those companies that, despite world-changing goals, may feel as though they are on the sidelines watching as larger companies make the commitments that make headlines. This next generation of deals requires creativity, flexibility, and ingenuity to invent new ways of doing business.
Apex understands that there are a number of companies searching for competitively priced renewable energy that are not in a position to make a large purchase, and we are ready to respond to this demand. Currently, large-scale wind projects provide the lowest cost of energy for renewables due to their economies of scale and location at sites with the highest wind speeds. But these large projects typically only offer contracts in the range of 50 MW to 200 MW, much more energy than most buyers want to purchase.
Apex is able to provide contracts to buyers in the 5 MW to 10 MW range, thereby opening up the market to a whole new wave of first-time corporate buyers for off-site wind power.
Power Tranches
Apex will be providing clean energy to a club of buyers—buyers that would negotiate as a group for the purchase of small quantities from a large-scale project—all at lower-risk, lower-price, and lower-minimum volumes than typically offered. By leveraging the power of group purchasing, smaller companies can obtain the best pricing and PPA terms, learn from review and analysis performed by their peers, and streamline the negotiations. Instead of each company working independently to find its own way, they will be able to share best practices and thus take their individual goals further. Apex is pioneering industry-standard contract terms—built through a stakeholder process over many years—to make procuring clean energy easier, faster, and more affordable without losing the protections and guarantees that are extended for larger contracts.
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