Delivering guaranteed savings through flexibility for Sundown Products
As the UK continues on the road to decarbonisation, increased renewable generation and greater system volatility mean that we’ll need to use energy more flexibly in the future.
At Drax, our Electric Assets team is bringing flexibility solutions to the market. And by partnering with businesses, we’re unlocking greater value for our customers through delivering risk-free savings.
Sundown Products, an agricultural business from Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire is the latest organisation to take advantage of our asset optimisation expertise.
As Sundown Products' energy supplier for nearly a decade, we’re uniquely positioned to help them better understand their energy use – and give them greater control over how and when they use it.
Identifying the potential
We worked closely with Sundown Products to deliver a full requirement review, analysing half-hourly data patterns of their energy use, and meeting with their on-site engineers to find out where their pain points are. In fully understanding their business operations, we were able to offer solutions – in the form of cost avoidance, trading and system stability - that guaranteed financial return.
By simplifying the complexities and removing the financial risk of electric asset flexibility, we’ve helped Sundown Products to reduce its costs by £35,000 – a saving which we were able to guarantee up-front.
Delivering guaranteed value
Our asset optimisation model is unique in providing a commitment to a pre-defined annual ‘flexibility value’ for our energy supply customers, meaning we’ll give you a fixed unit rate reduction. For transparency, we’ll baseline the value of optimisation against the cost if no action is taken and all bills are integrated, giving you a simple, unified view of your energy expenses and savings.
It also guarantees a discount to electricity supply contracts, removing uncertainty and without reconciliation.
As Sundown Products’ energy supplier, we’re able to offer them additional value, with an element of wholesale market trading arbitrage.
This highly collaborative effort has allowed Sundown Products to think about how it can schedule its operations to support the grid at times of system stress.
“We just feel good about it. If we can turn down at short notice when it’s required, we think that’s good – we like that."
“The optimisation, combined with renewable source electricity supply, is a very significant benefit to us.”
David Cubitt, MD of Sundown Products
Extending the partnership
At Drax, we’ll also work alongside your preferred energy consultant or other partner to deliver value without disrupting your operations.
For Sundown Products, our ability to work in partnership with its chosen third party intermediary (TPI), Brownlow Utilities, kept everything moving smoothly.
Decarbonising British businesses
We’re proud to play a leading role in the UK’s decarbonisation efforts, supporting businesses with renewable electricity and additional services.
Demand-side response (DSR) incentivises energy users to reduce their energy use at times of peak demand, helping to support the grid. By taking advantage of offerings like DSR, you can benefit from revenues generated by wholesale energy trading, National Grid balancing schemes, and peak network cost avoidance.
Our integrated flexibility product allows access to all revenue streams without any complicated additional contracts.
We’ll handle the complexities - managing trading, cost avoidance and ancillary services contracts - so that you can focus on your business. And subject to a full site assessment, we can offer you a fixed discount to your energy costs.
Read the full case study on our partnership with Sundown products with the button below.
To find out how we can help you identify flexibility opportunities in your business operations, contact our Electric Assets team today.
Download case study
