Renewable energy poses several challenges to the negotiation process. The definition of demand and performance requirements should take into account the intermittent and highly unpredictable nature of wind and solar energy. A commonly used mechanism is a multilayer-looking back with an accumulation of credits for performance above minimum levels to be compensated during underperformance. However, geothermal and biomass facilities do not suffer from intermittent problems. Geothermal AAEs should eliminate uncertainties related to the amount of geothermal resources by regularly measuring and certifying the geothermal resource on the day of commercial exploitation and thereafter. Similarly, the strategic location of power plants can result in significant transportation costs that should be considered when considering the economic viability of the project during the AAE negotiations. Synthetic AAEs decouple the physical flow of electricity from the financial flow. This will further increase the flexibility of contractual agreements. With respect to synthetic chaining contracts (also known as sPPAs), producers and consumers agree on a price per kilowatt-hour of electricity, as does a physical AAE. However, electricity is not delivered directly to the consumer from the power generation facility.

Instead, the producer`s energy service provider (for example. B an electricity distributor) takes the electricity generated in its clearing group and acts (in the short-term electricity markets, to cite an example). The consumer`s energy supplier (for example. B, a municipal plant) obtains exactly the power profile that the manufacturer makes available to its energy service provider on behalf of the PPA consumer partner, the purchase being made on a platform such as the spot market. In the synthetic AAE, this flow of electricity is now supplemented by what is called a differential contract. In this contract, the AAEs parties aim to compensate for the difference between the agreed price of AAEs and the actual spot market price. This means that each counterparty in the AEA has two cash flows: one with the energy service provider concerned and the other with the AAE contractor. In any event, the payments add up to the price of the AAEs set at the beginning and offer both parties the desired price guarantee.