Launch of Granular's GB demonstrator
New system to track electricity by the hour launched in Great Britain
A consortium of leading energy organisations led by hourly certificate focused start-up Granular and including European power market Nord Pool, Elexon, Energy System Catapult and Unicorn, is launching a new mechanism for hourly renewable energy certificates in Great Britain.
The move comes off the back of a global drive towards greater transparency in energy procurement, known as ‘24/7 carbon-free energy.’ Recently, organisations such as Google, Microsoft and the US Federal Government have made commitments to source carbon-free energy on an hour-by-hour basis, in an effort to have greater carbon reducing impact through their energy purchases.
In existing energy certificate schemes, such as the UK’s Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO), renewable generation and consumption are matched on an annual basis. This fails to reflect the ‘real world’ situation, where the availability of renewable energy fluctuates from hour-to-hour.
The certification system, which has been designed to comply with the EnergyTag guidelines, will allow participants to receive hourly certificates for their power generation in the Certigy registry, managed by established Guarantee of Origin registry provider Unicorn.
Using Granular’s management platform, energy users will be able to verify, for the first time, where their electricity is coming from on an hourly basis. Participants will also be able trade these hourly certificates bilaterally or on a centralised auction managed jointly by Granular and Nord Pool, to improve their level of hourly matching. The mechanism will also allow participation for storage, so that certificates can be stored and re-issued later. These certificates, combined with an exchange to trade individual hours, will create an important price signal that drives investment in the technologies needed to reach a fully carbon-free grid.
The new certification system will be initially launched as a pilot project, which will start at the end of April with a series of stakeholder engagement workshops and is still open to new participants.
Nicholas Rubin, market architect at Elexon said: “Great Britain has committed to achieving a fully decarbonised power system by 2035. In order to accelerate this transition, Elexon is supporting initiatives that contribute toward decarbonising the power sector and achieving net-zero.”
National Grid ESO and Energy System Catapult are also supporting this new initiative, realising the potential benefit that an hourly signal on renewable availability can bring to the whole electric system.
Toby Ferenczi, co-founder of Granular, commented: “Hourly energy tracking is vital to building trust in clean energy claims and creates a razor-sharp price signal that will accelerate investment in the technologies needed to deliver clean energy 24/7 worldwide.”
Julien Cossé, Director Strategy and Business Development at Nord Pool, added “Nord Pool is very excited to support Granular in exploring a centralised exchange for hourly energy certificates, providing the trust, transparency and liquidity that nascent market needs. As a pioneer of power markets in Europe, working with Granular is a natural fit for Nord Pool.”
Filip Král, Certigy Product Manager at Unicorn, said “Providing Certigy registry for this exciting initiative was a no-brainer for us. We are certain that granular certification is the next big step in evolution of EAC.”
To find out more email:
gb-demonstrator@granular-energy.com
Notes to editor
24/7 clean energy
describes the ambition to have 24/7 Carbon-free Energy (CFE), meaning that every kilowatt-hour of electricity consumption is met with carbon-free electricity sources, every hour of every day, everywhere.
Hourly certificates
are a system available for consumers to verify their electricity source on an hourly basis.
EnergyTag
is an independent, non-profit, industry-led initiative to define and build a market for hourly electricity certificates that enables energy users to verify the source of their electricity and carbon emissions hour by hour. The Granular GB scheme will comply with the latest version of the guidelines published by EnergyTag.
The UN 24/7 Carbon Compact
is an ambitious global programme to accelerate the decarbonisation of the world’s electricity systems to mitigate climate change.
Guarantees of Origin (GO)
are green labels or ‘trackers’ that guarantee one MWh of electricity as having been produced from renewable energy sources.
Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO)
is the UK declination of the European Guarantees of Origin scheme.
Joint Energy System Catapult and Elexon report on carbon tracking
: Energy System Catapult published a joint report (‘Accurately Tracking Carbon in Electricity Markets’) in autumn 2021, jointly authored with Elexon. The report recommended that carbon should be tracked through the electricity system in real time and space from generator to consumer. This would help to rid the market of greenwashing energy tariffs and accelerate decarbonisation of the power system by 2035. This is very much in line with the approach being developed by EnergyTag.
About Granular
Granular is a start-up providing solutions for 24/7 clean energy. Granular’s team of experienced professionals, with backgrounds in energy and financial markets, is developing solutions to facilitate the transition to 24/7 energy sourcing for electricity suppliers and corporate consumers. Granular’s mission is to accelerate the transition to a carbon-free electricity system.
About Nord Pool
Nord Pool, Europe’s leading power market, delivers efficient, simple and secure trading across Europe. The company, which is majority owned by Euronext, offers day-ahead and intraday trading, clearing and settlement, and additional services, to customers regardless of size or location. Today 360 companies from 20 countries trade on Nord Pool’s markets.
Nord Pool operates markets in the Nordic and Baltic regions, Germany, Poland, France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Luxembourg and the UK. Nord Pool is a Nominated Electricity Market Operator (NEMO) in 15 European countries, while also servicing power markets in Bulgaria, Croatia and Georgia. In 2021 Nord Pool had a total turnover of 963 TWh traded power.
About National Grid ESO
National Grid ESO – a legally separate business within the National Grid group – operates Great Britain’s electricity system today, whilst building a clean, green and fairer system for tomorrow.
It moves electricity around the country’s high-voltage network to balance supply and demand in real-time, using a mix of power generation sources to make sure electricity is available wherever and whenever it’s needed.
National Grid ESO is operating one of the fastest decarbonising, and most reliable, electricity systems in the world and its goal is that by 2025 it will be able to run the system with 100% zero carbon-generated electricity. It is at the heart of the transition to net-zero.
About Unicorn
Unicorn is a renowned European company providing the largest information systems and solutions in the area of information and communication technologies. We are focused on providing solutions, which provide a high added value while also delivering a competitive business advantage to its clients. We have been serving our clients since 1990 and over the years, we have developed a number of high-end, large-scale solutions, which are being used to serve the IT needs of important companies in many of the key sectors of the economy. Moreover, we provide the Plus4U Internet service in which we offer a large portfolio of services based on robust software solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises, and end users.
About Energy Systems Catapult
Energy Systems Catapult (ESC) is a net zero innovation centre, set up to accelerate the transformation of the UK’s energy system and ensure UK businesses and consumers capture the opportunities of clean growth. As an independent, not-for-profit centre of excellence ESC bridges the gap between industry, government, academia and research. ESC takes a whole-system view of the energy sector, to identify and address innovation priorities and market barriers, in order to decarbonise the energy system at the lowest cost.
About Elexon
Elexon is vital to the operation of the wholesale electricity market. We compare how much electricity generators and suppliers said they would produce or consume with actual volumes. We work out a price for the difference and transfer funds accordingly. This involves taking 1.25 million meter readings every day. The rules are set out in the Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC). We administer the Code and provide and procure the services needed to implement it. Our expertise and impartiality give our customers the confidence that the BSC operates efficiently and accurately.
