The demand for renewable source electricity is increasing among consumers and frequently consumers declare their electricity as being green sourced. There is increased Corporate Social Responsibility reporting requirements and end customer demand for green energy. This demand is further increased by a growing economy with new large energy users in the form of datacenters and large production sites coming on stream each year.
The Non-Financial Reporting Directive that was transposed into Irish law in August 2017, has created an increased impetus for large businesses to procure renewable electricity. This new law follows precedents in other EU countries and obliges large businesses in Ireland to return annual statutory reports with key metrics including; renewable electricity consumption, Green House Gas emissions and Water usage.
Renewable energy can be misrepresented at times and Utilities need to have in place strict processes to ensure that the energy they sell as renewable should be categorised as renewable. They also they need to ensure that this renewable energy is registered and recorded as such by the appropriate energy regulator, the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities in Ireland and the Utility Regulator in Northern Ireland.
The Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) has detailed regulations (CER/15/205 Decision Paper) in place concerning the “Regulation of Green Source Products in the Electricity Retail Market”, these set out the requirements for utilities with regard to selling renewable or “Green Source” electricity to customers. The regulations oblige utilities to adhere to strict guidelines and also require that their fuel mix declarations are audited by independent third parties with experience in these areas.
CCL is such an independent auditor and has long term contracts in place to review and audit the Green Source Products Declaration of many large utilities in Ireland for the annual fuel mix reporting.
