Younity's 200th Power Purchase Agreement

Community Energy and Younity – a ground-breaking milestone!

Younity exists to support a growing sustainable energy movement of community energy groups; one that’s driven passionately by our forward-thinking and innovative partnership between Midcounties Co-operative and Octopus Energy.

So, what is Community Energy?

Community Energy is a movement for good, one that typically involved a group of like -minded people who own and manage renewable energy assets. Owned by the people for the benefit of the people. Community energy groups ensure local access to green energy and a collective purpose of empowering and benefiting with investment in local communities.

Who are Younity and what do we do?

Younity was born in 2019 from a partnership between Midcounties Co-operative and Octopus Energy, to supercharge the growth of this community energy in the UK by supporting community energy groups in creating clean energy and benefit local communities. To put it simply, we won't rest until community energy has earned its rightful place at the heart of sustainable power.

We now have a breakthrough milestone cementing our place as the leading supporter of community energy in the UK - our 200th Community Energy Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)* partner. This means we now purchase the power produced from 200 community owned renewable sites! 200 PPAs provide enough energy to power nearly 60,000 households. This renewable green energy is sourced from 136 solar sites, 22 wind and 43 hydro projects across the UK.

How does Younity and our PPA partnerships benefit Community Energy Groups?

Younity (via Octopus Energy) purchases this renewable power produced from many varied community-owned projects across the UK.  Every PPA ensures a fair price for the energy generated by communities which in turn helps secure the long-term future of these vital renewable energy projects. Thanks to our partnership with Your Co-Op Energy, every kilowatt is ring fenced (via REGO’s)** to Your Co-op Energy’s Co-op Community Power tariff. The only UK domestic tariff that sources 100% of its electricity from community owned generation. 

We’re proud to support the country’s community energy projects in lots of different ways. We can inspire with creative ideas provide introductions to been-there-done-that community energy mentors. We can arrange the sale of renewable energy through Your Co-op Energy ethical community energy tariff. And we can help to promote community energy projects to consumers, supporters, and investors too. 

Community renewable energy helps towards net zero targets and UK energy security.

The Climate Change Committee has repeatedly stated that: “it will not be possible to get close to meeting a net zero target without engaging with people or by pursuing an approach that focuses only on supply-side changes”. So, this is why we see community energy as playing a vital role in achieving net zero targets in the UK. And why we work with community energy groups across the UK from Scotland to all the way down to Cornwall (and everywhere in between!) See our PPA map for more information  

Throughout the energy crisis, Younity has continued to support community energy groups to generate and sell their own power – meaning that these communities have been able to weather some of the storm hand-in-hand with Younity for renewable energy generation. Not only does this help with UK energy security but helps save our planet with less fossil fuels being burnt into the atmosphere.

Introducing our 200^th Power purchase agreement partner:

Younity’s 200^th agreement has been signed with Dorset Community Energy which has developed twenty-four solar installations on schools, community building and hospitals across Dorset. As part of its work, Dorset Community Energy delivers a wide-ranging educational programme including fun solar energy experiments aimed at getting primary school children engaged in renewable energy and providing practical support to teachers with solar energy educational packs and information.

Geoff Joy from Dorset Community Energy said: "We're so proud to be part of the Younity community energy network. We are thrilled to be Younity’s 200^th community energy partner and look forward to many more groups becoming part of this network in years to come.

 Investing in local energy has changed the lives of people in this community and the expertise and support provided by Younity has been essential in helping us to develop and grow our work.

So, what’s next for Community Energy and Younity?

Younity are continuously listening to their Community Energy partners to anticipate what is needed for a sustainable future. We know that funding is an ongoing issue, so we have introduced a number of innovative funding options to kick-start these vital green energy projects. These include

• Community Energy Accelerator – a £1.5m revolving fund designed to help new projects get off the ground - find out more info here
• Powering Communities Fund: Younity is proud to partner with Your Co-op Energy. For every customer that signs up to the Your Co-op Community Power Tariff, we will donate £10 into our very own Powering Communities Fund to support affiliated community energy groups. It’s a win-win for communities and the environment too.

Get in touch for more information   - together@younity.coop

*PPA’s are a contract between two parties, one which generates electricity and one who is looking to purchase electricity.

**The Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) scheme provides transparency to consumers about the proportion of electricity that suppliers source from renewable generation.

Sources:

The Voice of the Community Energy Sector | Community Energy England

Home | Community Energy Wales

Homepage | Your Co-op (midcounties.coop)

Octopus Energy: Switch to affordable renewable energy online

Gas & Electricity Energy Supplier | Green Energy UK | Co-op Energy (yourcoop.coop)

Net Zero reports - Climate Change Committee (theccc.org.uk)