Frequently
Asked Questions

Enerace is an energy procurement consulting firm. We are one of the leading energy procurement consulting firms in the Polish market and a major player in Central Europe.

Enerace provides consulting services in the areas of energy procurement and sustainable development, and offers expertise and procurement tools, including its proprietary Enerace.Online application, which is used by Europe’s largest electricity and gas consumers.

Enerace was founded in February 2019, and Enerace’s consultants have 15 years of experience in energy procurement and developing procurement strategies for small, medium, large, and very large companies across all industries.

Enerace serves more than 60 clients.

Enerace provides consulting services to companies that consume between 100 MWh (0.1 GWh) and 1,000 GWh (1 TWh) of electricity or natural gas per year.

Yes, Enerace works with industrial customers that consume more than 100 GWh per year.

Our clients are companies that spend at least 100,000 PLN annually on energy. For them, energy costs represent a significant portion of their total expenses and often affect their competitiveness in the market. Our target group includes not only energy-intensive companies such as industrial plants and factories, but also small energy consumption points with a large number of locations, which ultimately results in high energy costs. We primarily seek clients in Poland; however, due to the flexibility of our solution, we receive inquiries from across Europe, including from medium-sized companies.

Enerace has the most extensive experience in Poland and Central Europe. Our consultants also have extensive experience in advising clients across all European markets, gained through collaboration with multinational corporations. Enerace currently works with clients from Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Spain, Germany, Estonia, and France.

Our compensation depends on the scope of work we are to perform. Should we just organize a tender for the purchase of electricity, gas, and guarantees of origin? Develop a strategy? Should we only provide a quote for a procurement tool? Or is it about market expertise and providing market reports? We can provide a quote for a comprehensive service, e.g., for a year, or for a specific project or product. Please let us know in a few sentences what matters most to you. What is your procurement situation, and where do you see an opportunity to collaborate with us?

An independent consultant is extremely valuable to an energy consumer—because the consultant is “on the consumer’s side,” not the supplier’s. Unlike a broker or energy supplier, the consultant’s interest lies in securing the best possible purchases, prices, and costs for the consumer, rather than maximizing their own margin upon signing a sales contract. The consultant will develop a customized long-term procurement strategy and short-term procurement tactics. Not only will they create the tools, but they will also monitor and implement the strategy and tactics within the consumer’s organization.

Enerace does more than just provide market information. We combine market monitoring, portfolio analysis, investment recommendations, and operational support to help our clients move from data to decisions.

Client involvement is necessary, but it should be limited and structured. At the beginning, we need basic information and a discussion about goals and the purchasing model; thereafter, our collaboration is based primarily on an agreed-upon communication process, recommendations, and approval of key decisions.

Implementation takes place in phases. First, we assess consumption patterns, contracts, the procurement model, and the organization’s objectives. Next, we determine the approach, the scope of support, and the rationale behind our recommendations. In the next step, we initiate market monitoring, risk analysis, and recommendations, and then we support the tender process, negotiations, or the execution of the procurement decision.

This solution is used by those responsible for energy procurement, finance, and budget oversight. The content and collaboration features are designed to support both day-to-day operations and management-level decision-making.

The lack of complete data does not preclude starting a collaboration and discussing the operational model. Initially, we can work with the available data and fill in the missing information in subsequent implementation steps.

The first month is devoted to organizing the process and launching operational activities.
During this time, input data is verified, a collaboration model is established, a strategy is developed, reporting procedures and the logic behind recommendations are defined, and then market monitoring, initial analyses, and recommendations begin.

Komunikacja odbywa się w uzgodnionym trybie roboczym i jest dopasowana do potrzeb organizacji. Klient otrzymuje regularne omówienie sytuacji rynkowej i zakupowej, a w razie potrzeby również bieżące rekomendacje dotyczące momentu zakupu i dalszych działań.

In practice, working with Enerace provides greater control over the energy procurement process, improves the quality of procurement decisions, increases cost predictability, and reduces the need for reactive measures. In addition, the client gains a clear overview of the procurement situation, market data, and next steps.

Ideally, this should align with your own energy purchasing strategy. So, depending on your purchasing goals—whether you’re balancing your purchase against your budget or whether energy prices have a significant impact on your business’s competitiveness—ask yourself how energy costs affect your business. By exploring this, you’ll be able to determine exactly how your company should purchase energy. Remember that different companies will make purchases at different times, and each can be satisfied as long as it adheres to its energy purchasing strategy. Do you have such a purchasing strategy in place at your company?

It is a misconception that energy prices fall depending on the season. Of course, it may happen that, for example, in the summer—when there is more sunshine—energy prices drop because generation from renewable sources (PV) increases, or in the winter, when winds are generally stronger. At the same time, however, in the summer, for example, Due to the heat, prices can rise sharply because of increased demand (we use air conditioning, river water levels drop, which can cause problems with transporting coal to power plants, for example, or higher water temperatures make it harder to cool nuclear reactors, potentially leading to reactor shutdowns).

It’s worth implementing a long-term energy procurement strategy and sticking to the goals outlined in it. Take full advantage of the energy market’s features - for example, the fact that you can purchase electricity or natural gas each year at least 2, or even 3 or 4, years in advance.

You purchase a percentage of the energy price for a given period. You are required to cover 100% each month; if you do not purchase enough to reach 100%, your contract with the supplier will specify how to make up the remaining percentage.

It depends on what you want to achieve through tranche purchases—in other words, what your strategy is. Keep in mind that the more tranches you buy, the closer you get to the market average, and that might not be what you're aiming for.

Keep in mind that an energy tender does not necessarily mean that, by signing a contract, you are immediately locking in a fixed price for a given period. You can sign the contract first and then make purchases from the selected supplier. It’s a good idea to hold a tender when you have a strategy in place or when the supply period is approaching. It’s worth taking into account your company’s corporate requirements, such as sustainability issues or a c/v PPA.

It depends on your energy purchasing strategy. You can sign an energy contract even several years in advance, but you don’t have to buy right away—you can simply monitor the market. Just remember that when prices are rising sharply, it may not be the best time to sign a contract because, in order to protect your business, you’ll have to make concessions in the contract (you’re pressed for time and prices are rising rapidly).

It depends on your energy purchasing strategy. You can sign an energy contract for several years in advance, but you don’t have to buy right away—you can wait and see how the market develops. Just remember that when prices are rising sharply, it may not be the best time to sign a contract because, in order to protect your business, you’ll have to make concessions in the contract (you’re pressed for time and prices are rising rapidly).

Electricity and gas prices depend on many factors, including a country’s energy mix, supply and demand conditions, energy commodity prices, geopolitics, weather patterns, and political decisions and policies, etc.

Electricity and gas prices depend on many factors, including a country’s energy mix, supply and demand conditions, energy commodity prices, geopolitics, weather patterns, and political decisions and policies, etc.

Electricity and gas prices depend on many factors, including supply and demand, energy commodity prices, geopolitics, weather changes, and political decisions or policies, among others. The answer to this question is therefore not obvious. Prices sometimes rise and sometimes fall, and this is a normal phenomenon. One could venture to say that there is a chance energy prices will be lower, but there is no guarantee of this. It’s worth narrowing the question down to whether energy will be more expensive or cheaper tomorrow or next week, and more expensive or cheaper for what delivery period? Are we talking about the next month, year, or the next 10 years?

Electricity and gas prices depend on many factors, including a country’s energy mix, supply and demand conditions, energy commodity prices, geopolitics, weather patterns, and political decisions or policies, among others. The answer to this question is therefore not obvious. Prices sometimes rise and sometimes fall, and this is a normal phenomenon. Energy prices may therefore be higher than they are now, but they may not be.

It depends. If you look at the energy exchange, at a given moment or in a given year, the average prices on the next-day (spot) market may actually be cheaper than the prices you could have gotten by buying on the futures market (forward contracts). However, there’s no hard-and-fast rule here stating that spot is always cheaper than forward, or that it’s better to buy on the forward market because spot is always more expensive. Looking at price history over the past dozen or so years, the situation has varied. In one year, spot prices were clearly higher than forward prices, and then the following year the situation completely reversed, with forward prices being much higher than spot prices.

Futures contracts are traded on the electricity or natural gas futures market. The market sets prices for products over a specific period in the future. This allows us to decide to lock in a price for a given volume over a specified future delivery period, thereby limiting the risk of price volatility for our company during that period.

A spot contract, also known as the “Day Ahead market,” is a contract for delivery the following day.

That’s a very broad question. There’s no clear-cut answer. It depends on what the seller offers and what matters most to your company. The lowest price or the cheapest pricing structure available at a given moment won’t always be the best option for you. You need to evaluate many factors, such as price, pricing structure, the number of installments and how they can be arranged, volume tolerance, payment terms, guarantees, the seller’s reliability, and so on.

That’s a very broad question. There’s no clear-cut answer. It depends on what the seller offers and what matters most to your company. The lowest price or the cheapest pricing plan available at a given moment won’t always be the best option for you. You need to evaluate many factors, such as price, pricing structure, the number of installments and how they can be arranged, volume tolerance, payment terms, guarantees, the seller’s reliability, and so on.

That’s a very broad question. There’s no clear-cut answer. It depends on what the seller offers and what matters most to your company. The lowest price or the cheapest pricing plan available at a given moment won’t always be the best option for you. You need to evaluate many factors, such as price, pricing structure, the number of installments and how they can be arranged, volume tolerance, payment terms, guarantees, the seller’s reliability, and so on.

PPAs, also known as cPPAs or vPPAs—that is, corporate or virtual (financial) Power Purchase Agreements—are long-term contracts for the purchase of electricity from renewable sources. They are typically signed for terms ranging from 5 to as many as 25 years.

A direct line is a connection between a power generation unit and a consumer in a system that operates outside the public grid and cannot be connected to it.

It is an abbreviation for the Polish Power Exchange www.tge.pl

Property rights are tradable commodities derived from certificates of origin for electricity from renewable energy sources, certificates of origin for agricultural biogas, and energy efficiency certificates. Certificates of origin for energy are part of the support system for electricity producers.

Guarantees of origin are one of the components of the support system for energy from renewable sources (RES), which is based on the provisions of the RED II Directive. They serve to demonstrate to the end consumer that a specific portion or quantity of energy was produced from renewable sources.

The capacity charge—that is, the fee for maintaining the readiness to ensure electricity supply—is intended to guarantee energy security (a steady supply of electricity). The Energy Regulatory Office determines the amount of the capacity charge. By September 30 of each year, the capacity charge rates for the following calendar year are announced.

The balancing market is a market in which the Transmission System Operator buys or sells energy (acting as a party to all transactions) in order to balance energy supply and demand in the market. This is where the market gets its name: the balancing market.

Sustainable energy, sometimes referred to as green energy, is energy that is produced and used in such a way that it “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”