Low-carbon electricity procurement is no longer only about how much you buy, but about where and when it is generated relative to your consumption. With the SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 applying to target validations from February 2027, companies must match consumption within deliverability regions, and Category A companies will need to disclose their hourly matching share in every region where they consume 10 GWh or more a year. In a new white paper co-authored with STX, Four Steps Corporates Take to Turn Granular Data into Better Procurement Decisions, we set out how leading buyers are using granular data to prepare for this shift and to make better decisions today.

The paper walks through four practical steps.

First, establish a geographical baseline by mapping each site and every Scope 2 instrument to its grid or market region, since unbundled certificates sourced without regard to location may not meet deliverability rules.

Second, build an hourly baseline: in our illustrative example, a 35 GWh portfolio scores 100% annually, 92.4% monthly and just 67.5% hourly, with the gap concentrated in night and evening hours rather than in total volume.

Third, use scenario analysis to evaluate which levers close that gap; a blended wind and solar portfolio reaches around 62% for a day-peaking load and 50% for a round-the-clock load, with firm supply, storage and flexibility addressing the remainder.

Fourth, turn analysis into auditable claims through hourly certificates, using EnergyTag Configuration 3, for which Granular Energy is an accredited provider, where registries do not yet issue native hourly certificates.

The conclusion is clear: granular matching does not replace annual accounting, but it adds a lens that turns a score into a strategy. The organisations gaining most value are not those chasing the highest possible matching score, but those using granular data to understand their portfolios, identify practical improvements and prioritise changes within their contractual constraints. With SBTi’s recognition threshold starting at 50% hourly matching until 2030, progress can be incremental, and for most buyers it starts simply with sharing interval consumption data. Download the full white paper to explore each step in detail.