Modernizing ETRM for Renewables: A Deep Dive into Certificate Management and Battery Optimization

The New Era of Green Power Trading

As the global energy sector accelerates toward decarbonization, utilities and power companies are navigating a landscape transformed by renewables, distributed energy resources, and advanced storage solutions. The integration of wind, solar, and battery assets is no longer a future ambition—it’s a present-day imperative. Yet, legacy Energy Trading and Risk Management (ETRM) systems, designed for a simpler, fossil-fuel-centric world, are now a barrier to agility, compliance, and value creation. To thrive in this renewables-centric era, organizations must modernize their ETRM platforms, with a sharp focus on centralized certificate management and real-time battery optimization.

The Challenge: Complexity, Compliance, and Opportunity

The shift to renewables introduces a host of operational and regulatory challenges:

Certificate Management: The proliferation of renewable energy certificates (RECs), guarantees of origin (GoOs), and carbon credits demands robust, centralized systems to track, validate, and monetize these assets across multiple jurisdictions.
Battery and Asset Optimization: Grid-scale batteries and flexible assets require real-time optimization to maximize value from storage, arbitrage, and ancillary services.
Regulatory Reporting: Evolving market designs and compliance requirements—especially for renewables and emissions—necessitate automated, auditable reporting frameworks.
Portfolio Complexity: Integrating wind, solar, storage, and traditional generation across geographies and currencies increases the complexity of risk management and forecasting.
Operational Efficiency: Manual interventions in deal capture, scheduling, settlement, and reconciliation increase the risk of errors and limit scalability as renewables grow.

The Solution: A Digital, Data-Centric ETRM Ecosystem

Modern ETRM platforms, built on cloud-native, AI-enabled architectures, are the digital backbone for green power trading and compliance. The key pillars of a future-ready ETRM solution include:

1. Centralized Certificate Management

Unified Tracking: Centralize the management of RECs, GoOs, and carbon credits, enabling real-time tracking of certificate generation, transfers, and retirements.
Automated Compliance: Integrate certificate trading and compliance workflows, automating regulatory reporting and audit trails.
Monetization: Enhance the ability to monetize green attributes and meet customer sustainability demands through transparent, auditable systems.

2. Real-Time Battery and Asset Optimization

Advanced Forecasting: Leverage machine learning for demand and generation forecasting, optimizing battery dispatch and storage utilization.
Automated Scheduling: Integrate real-time data from batteries, renewables, and market signals to automate scheduling and dispatch, maximizing value from storage assets.
AI-Driven Decision Support: Provide traders and operators with AI-driven recommendations for intra-day and day-ahead markets, supporting rapid, data-driven decisions.

3. Automation and Process Orchestration

Trade Lifecycle Management: Automate deal capture, contract management, scheduling, settlement, and reporting to reduce manual effort and errors.
Seamless Integration: Open APIs and low-code tools enable integration with market data, exchanges, IoT devices, and external partners.
Continuous Innovation: Modular, cloud-native platforms support agile delivery and rapid deployment of new capabilities.

Real-World Impact: Publicis Sapient in Action

Standardizing ETRM for Renewables Integration

A global multinational energy company—one of the world’s largest offshore wind power generators—set a goal to be climate-neutral by 2040, backed by a €55 billion investment in renewables. Facing a fragmented landscape of systems and processes, the company partnered with Publicis Sapient to standardize its trading and risk management for renewable assets. The result:

Implemented a unified ETRM platform to support both physical and financial trading across North America and beyond.
Developed a centralized certificate management capability, streamlining the handling of RECs and other certificates.
Automated settlement and invoicing, reducing manual effort and errors.
Established advanced optimization models for congestion, day-ahead, and battery trading, resulting in a significant increase in trading P&L.
Launched a phased integration roadmap to enable rapid deployment of critical risk management controls.

Battery Optimization and Intra-Day Trading

For a leading power and gas company, Publicis Sapient implemented an ETRM platform that:

Integrated real-time data from batteries, renewables, and market signals.
Enabled automated scheduling and dispatch to maximize value from storage assets.
Provided traders with AI-driven recommendations for intra-day and day-ahead markets.
Improved forecasting accuracy and reduced margin leakage.

Certificate Trading and Compliance

A major utility needed to manage a growing portfolio of renewable certificates and complex compliance obligations. Publicis Sapient delivered:

A centralized, automated certificate trading and inventory management solution.
Real-time tracking of certificate generation, transfers, and retirements.
Automated regulatory reporting and audit trails.
Enhanced ability to monetize green attributes and meet customer sustainability demands.

A Practical Roadmap for ETRM Modernization

Publicis Sapient’s proven framework for ETRM transformation is tailored to the unique demands of green energy trading:

Unify Data Across the Value Chain: Migrate from legacy, on-premise systems to cloud-based platforms that centralize data from all business functions and distributed assets.
Automate and Streamline Processes: Replace manual workflows with automated, user-friendly solutions that reduce errors and free up teams for value-added activities.
Empower Business Users: Provide self-serve analytics and real-time dashboards, enabling teams to make decisions based on the latest, most accurate information.
Align Teams Around Shared Outcomes: Break down organizational silos by aligning incentives and KPIs across trading, operations, risk, and compliance.
Iterate and Scale: Start with high-impact use cases (e.g., battery optimization, certificate trading), deliver minimum viable products quickly, and scale successful solutions across the organization.

Why Publicis Sapient?

With decades of experience in energy and commodities, Publicis Sapient is uniquely positioned to guide organizations through the green energy transition. Our SPEED capabilities—Strategy, Product, Experience, Engineering, and Data & AI—ensure that every solution is tailored to your needs and delivers measurable business outcomes. We don’t just implement technology; we co-create the future of your business, helping you move from isolated digital upgrades to true value chain modernization.

Ready to Lead in Green Energy Trading?

The future of energy trading and risk management is digital, data-driven, and green. By embracing unified analytics, automation, and cloud-native ETRM platforms, energy companies can not only navigate volatility but seize new opportunities for growth, compliance, and sustainability. Connect with Publicis Sapient’s experts to discover how we can help you modernize your ETRM systems—and thrive in the new energy era.

Contact our Energy & Commodities team at energyandcommodities@publicissapient.com to start your transformation journey.