In a nutshell, the distributed energy market is growing at pace. The C&I Theatre was a popular destination for visitors each day, reflecting a high level of interest that ties in with projections for C&I rooftop, ground and canopy-mounted solar.

Add to this long-awaited policy updates which came into play last autumn, such as removing the planning requirements for solar installations greater than 1MW, and the introduction of the permitted development right of Class 0A, allowing, subject to prior approval, the development of solar canopies in the curtilage of commercial buildings, and it’s clear that behind-the-meter (BTM) solutions are set to play a major role in the government’s target to triple solar usage in the UK by 2030.

The BTM battery market is seemingly reaching a tipping point. Indeed, many of the conversations we had reflected the fact that batteries will be an important part of the future distributed energy product mix. There’s a real desire to make this happen, but it’s only now that the economics are starting to make onsite storage viable either combined with solar or standalone. Batteries are an essential part of the renewable energy ecosystem and an important part of our offer too, so it was extremely valuable for us to be able to tap into the expertise at the event and stay at the cutting edge of what is a very fast-moving market.  The ability to combine solar and storage onsite, increases energy savings, delivers more green power and creates stronger resiliency for customers.

Continuity of supply is often a concern for businesses considering the switch to solar, especially as our green and pleasant land is often washed-out. Unlike our continental European counterparts who are blessed with more sunshine hours, the quirks of the British weather mean that both making hay while the sun shines, and then storing it, are of equal importance.

Across talks given by both speakers in the C&I Theatre and in the conversations that followed, risk management was a clear and present theme.

Businesses are rightly focussed on longevity and future performance of assets. Amid the fluctuations and financial risk that the standard energy grid supply has presented to businesses over the past few years, there is a growing emphasis on securing long-term stability and the reliability of switching to solar.

With BTM solar also being relatively novel for some businesses, they are looking for reassurance that installations are high quality, reliable and will be maintained to remain so. They have an ongoing desire to avoid the cost and hassle of performance issues for solar arrays – or worse still, the potential for fire safety risk. Indeed, we were very encouraged by how much the industry is focusing on addressing concerns and impressed by the quality of conversations about the safe delivery of solar power to customers.

Attracting investment to distributed energy is also not without its challenges. While customer demand is high, investor perspective is still catching up and as a result capital can often be quite selective, despite some attractive features. Returns are typically higher than traditional renewables, while merchant exposure and planning/grid risk are both low.

We are engaged with a wide range of businesses, from sports stadia and conference centres, to distribution hubs and factories, all keen to harness the benefits of onsite generation. The primary concerns, of course, are how much will it cost and what the risks might be. When funded by the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) model, for example, there are no upfront costs, making adoption of renewable energy technologies much more accessible for many.

We‘ve found that there’s considerable demand from a wider range of organisations and businesses to install distributed energy. So much so, that we’re well on our way to committing upwards of £300m (equity and debt) to renewable energy projects in the UK.

Critical to success is combining expertise and strong partnerships with flexibility and agility to deliver a diverse range of projects. Meeting existing and future partners at key industry events is an invaluable part of the process to build quality networks and contacts that can deliver reliability, quality and resilience – exactly what the C&I sector needs when securing its future energy supplies through specialist third-party funding and delivery partners.