Energy certificate
An energy certificate (energy attribute certificate / EACs) is a transferable certificate, record or guarantee, in any form (including electronic) in relation to the amount of a specific type of energy or material goods consumed by an energy conversion device in the production of a quantity of energy or material goods and/or the attributes of the method and quality of its production.
Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs)
– as a generic term – are sometimes also called electricity attribute certificates, and furthermore include, according to the GHG Protocol “… a variety of instruments with different names, including certificates, tags, credits, or generator declarations.”[1] To simplify the wording, the generic term certificates can be used also and then further specified by the terminology of the different tracking systems which exists worldwide.[2]
Energy certificates for renewable energy are also referred to as:
- Tradable Renewable Energy Certificates (TRECs)
- Tradable Renewable Certificates (TRCs)
- Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs)
- Guarantee of origin (GO)
- The International REC Standard (I-REC Standard)
- Tradable Instruments for Global Renewables (TIGRs)
- Green tags
- Renewable Energy Credits.
Energy certificates issued under national legislation are normally used to provide evidence of compliance with an obligation on electricity producers, suppliers or consumers to use energy of a specific type or in order to qualify for financial support: qualifying plant are often high-quality cogenerators, or produce electricity from renewable sources. Examples of this within Europe are the Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) issued under the Renewables Obligation, and Levy Exemption Certificates (LECs) issued under the Climate Change Levy - originally part of the Finance Act 2001 - within the UK; Certificati Verdi within Italy; Elcerts within Sweden; and also within the three regions (Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia) of Belgium. At the time of writing, almost all such support schemes are national in character only, the transfer of certificates to and from other countries not being the intention of the policymakers. A notable exception is the Climate Change Levy: LECs are issued by the UK regulator to electricity producers both in the UK and in a number of European countries and exported to the UK, where they are purchased as proof of production of renewable energy production.
The European Union has also created internationally-transferable "guarantees of origin" to provide proof to consumers of the source of their electricity, as required by Directive 2009/72/EC: these are used by electricity suppliers when calculating the proportions of energy sources (e.g. fossil, nuclear etc.) in their supplied energy; and by government in calculating the "residual mix" (i.e. the blend of different sources of electricity produced in a country, adjusted for imports and exports. Directive 2009/28/EC and Directive 2012/27/EC give life to (respectively) guarantees of origin for renewable energy and highly-efficient cogeneration, for use within the European Union and those countries with which it is bound by treaty (currently the European Economic Area and Energy Community of South East Europe countries). The international transfer of guarantees of origin is facilitated by the Association of Issuing Bodies' European Energy Certificate System.
Energy certificates are also used in other countries, including the United States of America, Australia, Turkey and Japan.
This map gives an overview of the different systems worldwide. Please note: some countries don’t have a national system in place yet, therefore sometimes one or more “external” EACs systems can apply. Furhermore, countries which are not colour coded can fall under the regime of I-RECS, NECS and other.[3]
The following table shows a rudimentary overview of current national and international systems – more advanced information can be found at the different system providers. Content is subject to change without notice and is for information only.[4]
| Country of Consumption | EECS AIB | I-RECS countries issuing allowed | I-RECS production devices listed | NECS ex-domain | TIGR production device listed | National based |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | NECS ex-domain | |||||
| Algeria | NECS ex-domain | |||||
| Argentina | I-RECS redemption | NECS ex-domain | ||||
| Australia | I-RECS redemption | NECS ex-domain | Renewable Energy Target certificate | |||
| Austria | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| Bangladesh | TIGR can be issued | |||||
| Belgium - Brussels | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| Belgium - Federal | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| Belgium - Flanders | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| Belgium - Wallonia | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| Bosnia-Herzegovina | NECS ex-domain | |||||
| Brazil | I-RECS issuing | I-RECS production devices | NECS ex-domain | RECS Brasil (usage of I-RECS) | ||
| Bulgaria | NECS ex-domain | |||||
| Canada | NECS ex-domain | |||||
| Chile | I-RECS issuing | I-RECS production devices | NECS ex-domain | |||
| China | I-RECS issuing | I-RECS production devices | NECS ex-domain | Please contact Bischoff & Ditze Energy | ||
| Colombia | I-RECS issuing | I-RECS production devices | ||||
| Costa Rica | I-RECS issuing | |||||
| Croatia | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| Cyprus | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| Czech Republic | ||||||
| Democratic Republic of Kongo | I-RECS issuing | |||||
| Denmark | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| Egypt | I-RECS issuing | |||||
| Estonia | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| Finland | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| France | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| Germany | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| Greece | Full member (EECS AIB membership accepted - start 2020) | |||||
| Guatemala | I-RECS issuing | I-RECS production devices | TIGR production device | |||
| Honduras | I-RECS issuing | I-RECS production devices | ||||
| Hong Kong | NECS ex-domain | |||||
| Hungary | NECS ex-domain | Own national registry: MEHK - not connected to the AIB Hub | ||||
| Iceland | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| India | I-RECS issuing* | I-RECS production devices* | NECS ex-domain* | * Please contact Bischoff & Ditze Energy / Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) mechanism in India is developed to create a market-based instrument to promote renewable energy | ||
| Indonesia | I-RECS issuing | I-RECS production devices | TIGR can be issued | |||
| Ireland | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| Israel | I-RECS issuing | I-RECS production devices | NECS ex-domain | |||
| Italy | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| Japan | I-RECS redemption* | NECS ex-domain* | * In April 2017, METI has transformed its offset-credit scheme "J-credit system" in a way that can provide businesses with; offsetting credits and Energy Attribute Certificates (EAC) in the form of JCredits. | |||
| Japan | I-RECS redemption* | NECS ex-domain* | * NFV (FIT Non-Fossil Certificate) | |||
| Jordan | I-RECS issuing | I-RECS production devices | ||||
| Kazakhstan | NECS ex-domain | |||||
| Latvia | EECS AIB Observer status | NECS ex-domain | ||||
| Lithuania | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| Luxembourg | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| Macedonia | NECS ex-domain | |||||
| Malaysia | I-RECS issuing | I-RECS production devices | TIGR production device | |||
| Malta | NECS ex-domain | |||||
| Mexico | I-RECS issuing | I-RECS production devices | NECS ex-domain | Certificados de Energías Limpias (CEL) > https://energy-attribute-certificates.com/countries/south-america/mexico | ||
| Monaco | NECS ex-domain | |||||
| Montenegro | EECS AIB Observer status - applicant for membership | NECS ex-domain | ||||
| Morocco | I-RECS issuing | I-RECS production devices | ||||
| Netherlands | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| Nigeria | I-RECS issuing | |||||
| North Korea | NECS ex-domain | |||||
| Norway | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| Oman | I-RECS issuing | NECS ex-domain | ||||
| Panama | I-RECS issuing | |||||
| Paraguay | NECS ex-domain | |||||
| Peru | I-RECS issuing | NECS ex-domain | ||||
| Philipiens | I-RECS issuing | I-RECS production devices | TIGR production device | not implemented yet: Renewable Energy Registry mandated by the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 / not connectet to TIGR | ||
| Poland | NECS ex-domain | Please contact Bischoff & Ditze Energy | ||||
| Portugal | EECS AIB Observer status - applicant for membership | NECS ex-domain | ||||
| Puerto Rico | NECS ex-domain | |||||
| Qatar | NECS ex-domain | |||||
| Romania | NECS ex-domain | Please contact Bischoff & Ditze Energy | ||||
| Russia | I-RECS redemption | NECS ex-domain | ||||
| Saudi Arabia | I-RECS issuing | NECS ex-domain | ||||
| Serbia | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| Singapore | I-RECS issuing | I-RECS production devices | NECS ex-domain | TIGR production device | ||
| Slovakia | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| Slovenia | ||||||
| South Africa | I-RECS issuing | I-RECS production devices | NECS ex-domain | zaRECs (im Gespräch mit dem IB) | ||
| South Korea | NECS ex-domain | |||||
| Spain | I-RECS production devices | |||||
| Spain | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| Sri Lanka | I-RECS issuing | |||||
| Sweden | EECS AIB full member | |||||
| Switzerland | EECS AIB full member* | * Ongoing RED II discussion - please contact Bischoff & Ditze Energy | ||||
| Taiwan | I-RECS issuing* | I-RECS production devices* | NECS ex-domain* | * Taiwan REC Standard (T-REC) In June 2017 Taiwan opened its National Renewable Energy Certification Center (T-REC Center) which issues contractual instruments. T-RECs may be used to prove consumption of renewable electricity. | ||
| Thailand | I-RECS production devices | NECS ex-domain | TIGR production device | ppt and ewf to implement a blockchain based and I-REC connected registry | ||
| Turkey | I-RECS issuing | I-RECS production devices | NECS ex-domain | |||
| Uganda | I-RECS issuing | I-RECS production devices | ||||
| Ukraine | NECS ex-domain | |||||
| United Arab Emirates | I-RECS issuing | I-RECS production devices | NECS ex-domain | |||
| United Kingdom | NECS ex-domain | Please contact Bischoff & Ditze Energy | ||||
| Uruguay | NECS ex-domain | |||||
| USA | NECS ex-domain / CDP does not recommend the usage of European GOOs for electricity consumption in the USA. | Please contact Bischoff & Ditze Energy | ||||
| Venezuela | NECS ex-domain | |||||
| Viet Nam | I-RECS issuing | I-RECS production devices | TIGR production device |
Footnotes
- WRI World Resources Institute (2015). "GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance executive summary, An amendment to the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard" (PDF). GHG Protocol. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
- Germeroth. "frontpage". Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs). Retrieved 2020-01-21.
- Germeroth. "Overview of countries and systems". Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs). Retrieved 2020-01-21.
- Germeroth (2020-01-21). "Overview of countries and systems". Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs). Retrieved 2020-01-21.