A dozen utilities will take part in a new UK trade platform, seeking to overcome accusations of greenwashing that have undermined the credibility of renewable energy certificates.
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(Bloomberg) – A dozen utilities will take part in a new UK trade platform, seeking to overcome accusations of greenwashing that have undermined the credibility of renewable energy certificates.
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Total Energies, Ovo Energy Ltd and Brook Green Supply Ltd are among 12 utilities that have agreed to buy hourly energy certificates on the platform launched by Nordpool ASA and startup Granular SAS. Utilities then plan to sell the electricity to customers, providing more transparency on when and where the green energy they purchase is produced.
Under current rules, companies claim to use and sell 100% renewable energy by buying cheap certificates from owners of wind turbines or solar panels, even if that energy was produced months or even a year ago. This has led to accusations of greenwashing because these certificates do not reflect the physical flows of renewable energy through the grid.
Granular, based in Paris, tries to solve this problem by offering time-stamped certificates in a time window. It seeks to take advantage of the growing demand from businesses and regulators for real-time energy certificates. Google and Microsoft Corp. both set targets for 24-hour renewables, while last month the European Commission proposed new requirements for green hydrogen, which include hourly matching.
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On Monday, the UK government announced a new standard for low-carbon hydrogen, which also requires producers to consider their electricity demand and show that the electrolyser is working at the same time as the source of electricity. feed. The United Nations also has a movement that businesses and governments can join that aims to ensure that every kilowatt-hour of electricity used is paired with carbon-free electricity in order to achieve a fully carbon-free grid.
A handful of other companies, including Sky Ltd, will also participate in the new market, to bolster the credibility of their green power claims for their operations, according to a statement from Granular. It will use a so-called EnergyTag standard for hourly energy certificates that Granular has been developing over the past two years.
Granular also confirmed on Tuesday that it has received €2 million ($2.091 million) in venture capital investment from Seedcamp Ltd, Revent and Powerhouse Ventures LLC.
“The idea is to harness the technology to send an extremely accurate price signal for renewable energy,” said Toby Ferenczi, co-founder and CEO of Granular Energy. He said they would use the money to roll out his platform in the UK and launch it in three new European markets and the US.