Carbon-Free Chronicles August 2025: The essential round up of news and reports relating to 24/7 clean energy

What we’re reading

Accessible hourly transparency is coming to the UK electricity market

• The Matched Methodology is an open-source framework from the independent initiative Matched, founded by Joe Kwiatkowski. It was created in response to evidence that many UK households paying for “100% renewable” electricity are being misled. New analysis shows that some tariffs marketed as fully renewable deliver as little as 56% renewable electricity, with the rest supplied by gas and nuclear generation.
• The methodology uses publicly available data to calculate half-hourly (temporal) matching between renewable generation and consumption, revealing the real-time performance of “green” tariffs. By exposing the gap between marketing claims and actual delivery, it brings transparency and accountability to renewable energy markets. This is crucial for suppliers, regulators, businesses, and consumers who want accurate carbon reporting and to ensure their energy choices truly support decarbonisation.
• Suppliers are taking the lead by offering hourly clean energy tariffs that match consumption with renewable generation in real time. Examples include Good Energy in the UK, Ecotricity, and A2A in Italy, empowering customers with transparency, accurate carbon reporting, and incentives to shift demand to cleaner hours.

New product options in the hourly evolution: 24/7 PPAs

• Last month we shared news from our Granular Certificate trial with Grexel and major Irish suppliers. With GCs on the horizon, market participants are already evaluating new product offerings, one of which is the 24/7 PPA.
• A 24/7 PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) is a next-generation renewable energy contract designed to match a buyer’s electricity demand with clean power generation every hour of every day, rather than just on an annual or monthly basis.
• PhilipLee’s recent briefing highlights that true hourly matching will require a portfolio approach, combining wind, solar, and crucially, storage. While such PPAs may initially carry a price premium, research from the IEA shows that integrating storage lowers the long-term cost of hourly matching. In a recent webinar, Electric Storage Ireland with industry players continued the exploration of these opportunities under an hourly system in Ireland.

What we’re writing (and saying)

EnergyTag Configuration 3 accreditation

• Granular Energy is now an accredited issuer of Granular Certificates (GCs) under EnergyTag configuration #3. This enables us to issue hourly, time-stamped certificates before markets and registries implement official hourly EACs. This milestone enables granular, auditable hourly matching of clean energy, strengthening the credibility of 24/7 carbon‑free energy claims by preventing double counting and aligning with evolving corporate, regulatory, and investor expectations.
• In a joint webinar with EnergyTag, Granular’s Benedict Shegogg details our journey to EnergyTag Config 3 accreditation, shares insights from real-world hourly tariff case studies, and explores how our solutions make issuing Granular Certificates simple. Together, we explain why interoperable, auditable hourly tracking matters for both buyers and suppliers, and how it lays the groundwork for credible 24/7 carbon-free energy claims.

24/7 goes global with standards updates and hourly matched products

• The summer was filled with news on the evolving standards frameworks, in particular, from the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the Climate Group. Our two August blogs recap the most important movements from these organisations and how suppliers are leading with pre-emptive product enhancements.
• In our piece on the movements driving 24/7 carbon-free energy, we outline how three global initiatives are converging to encourage 24/7 CFE on a global scale: The 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact - setting the global ambition (vision) The 24/7 Carbon-Free Coalition develops the market rules and tools (implementation) GHG Protocol defines how progress is measured (accounting).
• A case study with JERA, A2A, and Ecotricity detail the outcomes, challenges, and roadmap of hourly matching products. Across each market, businesses appreciate the transparency of seeing exactly when and where their electricity is carbon-free. This awareness not only builds trust but also strengthens demand for more sophisticated products.