Energy solutions tailored to your needs
Energy is a major part of running many horticulture businesses. Heating a glasshouse, powering grow lights, running refrigeration, controlling storage conditions or keeping a packhouse moving can all add significantly to electricity demand.
And that demand rarely stays the same throughout the year.
Conrad Energy supplies electricity directly to businesses across the UK, with fixed and flexible contracts, renewable energy options and longer-term on-site generation solutions. We take a consultative approach, analysing how your business uses energy, then finding solutions that works specifically to meet your needs.
Renewable energy that works with your growing cycle
Your growing season and your electricity demand have their own patterns. Renewable generation does too.
Understanding how those patterns fit together can help you make better decisions about the energy you buy – keeping your business as sustainable as possible and demonstrating that to your supply chain.
Depending on your business, that could mean combining flexible energy purchasing with renewable electricity, Match+, on-site generation or a longer-term PPA.
It starts with understanding when you use energy, not simply how much you use.
Energy supply for horticulture businesses
If energy is a significant part of your production costs, we can help.
We work with energy-intensive businesses and can support operations including:
- Indoor and vertical farms
- Heated and lit glasshouses
- Mushroom growers
- Fruit and soft-fruit growers
- Apple and pear growers
- Packhouses and processors
- Cold stores and controlled storage
- Potato, onion and root-crop storage
- Plant propagators and protected nurseries
- Large garden centres and growing operations
Your energy requirements are unlikely to be the same as those of another grower. We’ll look at your specific consumption patterns, your operation and what you want to achieve before discussing the options available.
How we can help
1
Understand how you use energy
We’ll look at your electricity consumption, your sites and how demand changes across the year.
2
Understand your growing cycle
Heating, lighting, refrigeration, irrigation, storage and packing can all affect demand at different times. We’ll take those seasonal changes into account.
3
Find the right way to buy
Depending on your requirements, that could mean a fixed price contract, flexible purchasing, renewable electricity or a longer-term agreement.
4
Supply your business directly
Conrad Energy is an electricity supplier, so you’ll have a direct relationship with our Energy for Business team throughout your contract.
5
Plan for what comes next
Expanding growing space? Adding refrigeration or lighting? Considering solar or new storage facilities?
Changes to your operation can change your energy requirements too. We can help you consider what that means for your future supply.
Choose an energy contract that works for your business
There isn’t one right way for every horticulture business to buy electricity.
That’s why Conrad Energy offers a range of supply options.
Fixed price contracts
If predictable costs matter most, a fixed price contract can give you greater certainty over the price you pay for electricity during your contract.
It can make budgeting simpler and reduce your exposure to movements in the wholesale energy market.
Good for: businesses looking for straightforward budgeting and greater certainty over energy costs.
Flexible price contracts
Energy demand in horticulture can move considerably throughout the year.
A glasshouse may use more electricity for heating and lighting during winter. A fruit business may see demand rise around harvesting, cooling and packing. Storage requirements can change with the crop and the season.
A flexible contract lets you purchase electricity in smaller amounts at different points throughout the contract rather than fixing everything at once. This can give larger energy users greater control over when they buy.
Good for: larger horticulture businesses with seasonal or changing demand and the resource or support to take a more active approach to purchasing.
Match+ renewable energy
If renewable electricity is important to your sustainability plans, Match+ gives you greater transparency over where your electricity comes from.
Rather than relying only on annual renewable certificates, Match+ matches your electricity consumption with renewable generation on a half-hourly basis.
You can choose how much of your electricity you want matched, up to 100%, with regular reporting showing the renewable assets used.
Good for: growers with sustainability targets or businesses that need clearer evidence of renewable electricity use for customers, retailers and supply chain partners.
On-site and near-site generation
If you have a suitable roof, piece of land or nearby site, generating electricity closer to where you use it could be another option.
Conrad Energy can arrange a fully-funded on-site or near-site generation project, often using solar, with the electricity generated being supplied back directly to your business through a long-term Power Purchase Agreement.
There is no upfront capital cost for the generation asset in this instance and our partners will manage the whole project from development through to operation and maintenance.
Good for: businesses with suitable sites and significant, sustained electricity demand.
Long-term Corporate PPAs
For larger energy users looking further ahead, a Corporate Power Purchase Agreement can provide long-term price stability.
Electricity is purchased under a long-term agreement linked to a specific renewable generation asset, giving businesses greater certainty over energy costs while supporting their sustainability objectives.
Good for: large growers, processors and storage businesses with significant, long-term electricity requirements.
What could the right energy strategy do for your business?
Help manage your energy costs
Energy can be a significant operating cost. Choosing the right purchasing approach can give you more control over how and when you buy.
Give you greater certainty
A fixed price contract or longer-term PPA can make future electricity costs easier to plan for.
Work with seasonal demand
If your consumption changes significantly throughout the year, a flexible purchasing strategy can reflect the way your operation actually uses electricity.
Support your sustainability goals
Match+ can provide clearer evidence of renewable electricity use by matching consumption with renewable generation every half hour.
Make more of your site
Where your site is suitable, on-site or near-site generation can provide another source of electricity and reduce reliance on power supplied entirely through the grid.
Horticulture is different
“Horticulture is a great example of why businesses need to look at how they use energy, not just how much they use. Growing cycles, heating, lighting, refrigeration and packing can all change demand throughout the year. Understanding that demand can help businesses make better decisions about how they buy their energy.”
Tim Foster, Director of Energy for Business, Conrad Energy
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Conrad Energy supplies electricity directly to businesses across the UK, with fixed and flexible contracts, renewable energy products and longer-term on-site generation solutions.
It can.
If your electricity use changes significantly throughout the year, flexible purchasing can give you more control over when and how you buy your energy.
It is particularly worth considering for larger users that have the knowledge, resource or support needed to take a more active approach to purchasing.
That’s exactly the type of variation we’ll look at.
Heating, lighting, refrigeration, irrigation, storage and packing can all affect electricity demand at different points in the year.
Understanding those changes helps us discuss supply options that are better suited to the way your business operates.
Yes.
Match+ matches your electricity consumption with renewable generation on a half-hourly basis. You can decide how much of your consumption you want matched, up to 100%, and receive reporting showing the actual renewable generation asset used to fulfil your needs.
Yes. Where a site is suitable, Conrad Energy can arrange fully-funded on-site or near-site generation, including solar.
There are no up-front costs and the electricity it produces will be supplied back to your business through a long-term Power Purchase Agreement.
Not necessarily.
What matters is your electricity consumption, the way you use energy and what you want to achieve. Our team can look at your requirements and explain which options may be suitable.
It’s worth reviewing your energy requirements before your existing contract ends.
More growing space, additional refrigeration, new lighting, changes to storage or increased processing capacity can all alter your electricity demand.
Planning for those changes early can help you choose an energy contract that works for the business you’re becoming, rather than the business you once were.
Make your energy work with your growing cycle
Your electricity needs can change throughout the year. Your energy purchasing strategy should reflect that.
When electricity is a significant business cost, the way you buy it matters. At Conrad Energy, we help horticulture businesses find an approach that reflects their energy needs and commercial priorities.
We’ll review your current electricity consumption, look at how your demand changes throughout the year and explore the purchasing options that could work best for your business.
Prefer to speak to us directly? Call our Energy for Business team on 01235 427335, 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday or email supply@conradenergy.co.uk.