The demand for environmentally friendly power is increasing. As a purchaser of energy, you can now choose green options regarding the power supplied to you.

Buying green power ensures that:

• Every cent the power customer pays is used for the generation of renewable energy
• Consumers have the means to influence power producers to place more emphasis on renewable energy

Energy and the environment - green certificates and guarantees of origin

Energy certificates - which are also called “green certificates” - are securities that make it possible to trade in environmental values on the electricity generated from renewable sources of energy. Green certificates are used to keep accounts of who receives power from which power station.

In Norway, RECS certificates and guarantees of origin are the only energy certificates that can be traded as of 1st January 2007. A RECS certificate represents one MWh of generated energy based on renewable sources. The certificate can be traded before it is redeemed and used as documentation of renewable energy for consumers. In this context, “renewable energy” is defined as all energy stemming from sources other than fossil fuels or nuclear power. RECS is a voluntary system for the approval of renewable power generation, and for the issuing, trading and redemption of renewable energy certificates.

Today, only combined RECS certificates and guarantees of origin are issued for the same volume of energy generated. The certificates/guarantees can only be used together. Statnett SF is the issuer of RECS certificates and guarantees of origin in Norway. The issuing is noted in the register of certificates: RECS CMO. Statnett guarantees that electricity for which an account holder in RECS CMO has been issued and/or purchased RECS certificates stems from renewable sources of energy.

Guarantee of origin

Quote from the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE): “From 1 January 2007, all power suppliers are to inform their end users of the origin of the electrical energy supplied during the previous year. This can be termed a declaration of goods.

“Some power suppliers offer their own declarations of goods, in which they guarantee their customers that they are only paying for current from renewable sources of energy. The power suppliers who do not issue their own declarations of goods are supplying the national consumer mix to their customers. This is called the national declaration of goods for electricity.”

A guarantee of origin can be issued for electrical energy that is generated using renewable sources of energy. With a guarantee of origin, the power producer can document that the company's power consumption does not generate pollution - either in the form of CO2 emissions or nuclear waste. This can provide an important advantage, particularly on the international market, which is focusing strongly on environmentally friendly production. It is likely that guarantees of origin will be used as documentation in the planned declaration of goods regulations.

Statnett SF has been appointed by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy to issue guarantees of origin. The requirement for the Norwegian State to set up a system of the issuing of guarantees of origin is drawn from the EU Renewables Directive. This is an EU directive that gives the right to have guarantees of origin issued to all power producers who so desire.

For additional information, contact Alpiq Norway at marked.nor@alpiq.com.

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