Russian President Vladimir
Putin has signed a law introducing certificates of origin for electricity. The
corresponding document was published on the official website of legal
information.
According to the law, only the
facilities that run on renewable energy sources “without the use of combustion”
or on nuclear power will be recognized as low-carbon facilities. Market
participants will be able to obtain a document that confirms the origin of the
electricity and in turn provide and disseminate information about it for their
own purposes (e.g. for advertising).
In addition to the concept of
a certificate, the document also introduces ‘generation attributes’, which, as
the Market Council Association explained earlier, will be a set of information
about a qualified ‘green’ generation facility. It is planned to transfer them
with the help of various certificates or conclude free bilateral contracts in
respect of them.
“Generation attributes and
their certificates of origin are negotiable forms of fixing the advantages of
renewable and low-carbon energy over conventional energy,” says the explanatory
note to the bill. With their help, companies will be able to confirm their
low-carbon energy consumption, which should also help in the calculation of the
carbon footprint of manufactured products.
The changes regarding
low-carbon certificates and the nuances of their circulation will come into
effect 180 days after the law is published.
In the past, it was assumed
that the volume of circulation of these instruments should be at least 400 bln
kWh per year. The Market Council raised the issue of creating a certification
structure at the association’s general meeting last year, but no decision was
made at that time. The relevant decision was finally made this year, and the
structure will be named the Energy Certification Centre.
Source: Interfax
