What we're reading

Spain drafts ambitious hourly matching mandate for data centres

• Spain's Council of Ministers approved fast-track processing of a draft decree that would require new data centres above 1MW to cover at least 80% of their hourly electricity consumption with renewable generation commissioned within 18 months of the facility starting operation.
• Compliance is measured hour by hour, a harder test than current guarantees of origin that rely on annual matching. Failure to comply would bring escalating grid tariff surcharges and, ultimately, loss of grid access. This would apply only to new projects.
• It is a notably firmer stance than Brussels has taken on data centre sustainability so far, and sets a benchmark other member states may look to as data centre demand climbs across Europe.

Africa's first 24/7 solar-plus-storage baseload plant goes online at a DRC copper mine

• CrossBoundary Energy's solar and battery storage hybrid plant reached commercial operation, supplying Kamoa Copper's mining complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo with over 30MW of dispatchable, round-the-clock renewable power at a 95% availability factor.
• The project is expected to cut the mine's annual CO2 emissions by 78,750 tonnes by displacing diesel generation, alongside reducing exposure to diesel price volatility and supply risk.
• It is a strong proof point that firm, round-the-clock renewable power is now deployable at scale for energy-intensive, off-grid industrial sites, not just in mature grid markets.

The Guardian: a UK supplier's case for hourly matching

• In a Guardian feature, Good Energy's Fran Woodward argues that "100% renewable" REGO tariffs are a form of greenwashing, since certificates can be bought separately from the power itself with no guarantee the two ever line up in time.
• Good Energy's suggested alternative is hourly matching, and the company is candid about where it stands today: 88% of customer demand matched within the same half hour, 90% within the hour, the rest only over the full year.
• At Granular Energy we provide the data infrastructure and hourly matching behind Good Energy’s tariff.

What we're writing

What are RECs? A primer on the instrument behind clean energy claims

• We published a primer covering what Renewable Energy Certificates are, why REC portfolios get complicated as companies scale up their clean energy reporting, and how a purpose-built management tool helps portfolio managers stay on top of class, geography and expiration without manual cross-referencing.
• This blog focuses on the specific challenges and opportunities of the US environmental markets. Read it here.

TotalEnergies x Granular Energy on why hourly beats annual matching

• We teamed up with TotalEnergies on an explainer video making the case for hourly matching over annual matching, building on our existing work together on TotalEnergies' UK green supply certificate management. Watch it here.

Where to meet us

• September 17th - meet Bruno Menu in Paris at the OMC and French GO Symposium
• September 21-24th - meet Priya Patel and Eleonore Lazat at the New York Climate Week. A few notable events:
• September 21st at Future Currence and at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and EnergyTag event on Dispelling Scope 2 Myths, where Eleonore will be speaking on a panel.
• September 22nd, Priya will be hosting and moderating the Climate Group 24/7 Solutions Accelerator. Corporates, get in touch to join or learn more.
• September 22nd, Eleonore will be speaking on a panel at the Xpansiv Climate Week Summit
• September 24-25th - meet Camille Lamb, Toby Ferenczi, Eoin Halton and more of the team at London Energy Trading Week. Find us at booth 172. We’re also hosting a dinner on the 24th, so reach out to enquire about joining.