Energy origination is the process of sourcing and structuring renewable energy supply contracts (for both power delivery and Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs). It covers everything from identifying suitable generation assets to negotiating Power Purchase Agreements and bespoke structured products. Commercially, origination sits upstream of certificate procurement. Teams looking to procure need to account for regional policy variations, registry requirements, and the specific contractual instruments available in each market, whether REGOs in the UK, Guarantees of Origin in continental Europe, or I-RECs in emerging markets.
The origination phase determines what Energy Attribute Certificates a buyer can eventually retire. Getting the contract structure right means cleaner audit trails, better price visibility, and certificates that actually match the buyer's consumption data and sustainability mandates. For Scope 2 reporting under the market-based method, strong origination is key to a a defensible and credible renewable claim. Dual-sided platforms like Soldera exist to simplify origination by aggregating thousands of renewable producers under one interface - meaning that origination is handled for most buyers who would rather focus on price quotes and customising their procurement criteria than trying to establish relationships with renewable energy producers themselves.
An environmental commodity is an umbrella term referring to any tradable instrument with market demand that carries a standardised environmental purpose within a regulatory or voluntary framework. Environmental commodities include carbon credits, emissions allowances, and Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs).
EACs are the electricity-specific subclass: one certificate represents the attributes of 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of generation, vary by region, and supports renewable electricity usage claims when cancelled. Whilst they are both environmental commodities, carbon credits not the same as EACs, they are different: they represent quantified greenhouse gas reductions or removals (usually 1 tonne CO₂e) and are used to offset residual emissions (Scope 1 & 3), not to evidence renewable electricity sourcing for market-based (Scope 2) disclosure.
Expiry ends the period of time after production when an EAC can be used for an end-user renewable claim. It represents one of two ways that an EAC lifecycle ends (the other being cancellation). Expiry rules vary per jurisdiction and per EAC type: GOs under the EECS framework have a dual-deadline: certificates are tradeable for 12 months, then enter a 6-month redemption-only window (meaning cancellation is allowed), hard-capped at 18 months (all functionality ceases). UK REGOs implement a 16-month rolling expiry, with Ofgem executing automatic cancellations as per this schedule. North American RECs show the widest variation, ranging from 3-months in New England to 4-years in Wisconsin. I-RECs have no registry-level expiry and remain technically valid indefinitely.
Note: Registry functionality is the technical maximum, but reporting frameworks can vary in vintage matching rules, causing a functional expiry separate from registry mechanics. See claims and vintage to learn more.
GRESB Infrastructure is a global ESG benchmark for infrastructure and real assets, built around the TCFD framework and GHG Protocol. Every year, assets report environmental performance data through GRESB's assessment to give investors a standardised view of ESG risk. The GHG Protocol requires dual reporting of Scope 2 emissions, and GRESB accepts market-based figures. In practice, this means buying and retiring Energy Attribute Certificates, RECs in North America, GOs in Europe, REGOs in the UK, or I-RECs in emerging markets, allows an asset to claim zero-carbon electricity in its GRESB submission. These certificates feed straight into the fund's GRESB Score. Compliance teams have to verify them properly, because a stronger score translates to higher asset valuations and more attention from ESG-focused capital.
Granular certificate matching (more broadly conceptually referred to as "granularity") pairs generation timestamps with EAC retirement intervals at sub-annual resolutions, working to ensure that renewable energy generation and EAC retirement are occurring within highly aligned timeframes (sometimes, as aligned as hourly or sub-hourly), boosting the credibility of a claim. Groups and pacts dedicated to collaborating on the topic exist: such as SEForAll and 24/7 Carbon Free Energy, fostering conversation and dialogue. Yet, whilst "hourly matching" is emerging as a discussion point and potential standard for the market to evolve into, it's not currently clear how a shift towards granularity would impact EAC price dynamics, or if market infrastructure is currently prepared for that leap (at least in the immediate future).
Guarantees of Origin (GOs) track renewable electricity attributes across European markets via conventional book and claim, acting as Europe's dominant EAC. Producers receive one GO per megawatt-hour delivered to the grid, and issuance occurs after production data is transmitted to the respective national registry operator. Guarantees of Origin are bought and sold, and exit supply via expiry or cancellation.
GOs are regulated by EU Directive 2023/2413, (commonly known as REDIII), and are operationalised via the EECS rules (overseen by the AIB).
ISCC PLUS is a voluntary certification that tracks whether bio-based and circular materials actually end up where companies say they do. It uses a mass balance approach, essentially accounting for sustainable feedstocks as they move through a supply chain rather than physically separating them at every step. The scheme builds on ISO 14067 and EU RED II requirements.
ISCC PLUS covers the materials side of sustainability (Scope 3), not the energy side (Scope 2). But the two overlap in practice. Companies going through ISCC audits often need to prove that the energy used in production came from renewable sources as well. That means buying and cancelling Energy Attribute Certificates, either Guarantees of Origin in Europe or RECs in North America, through registries or integrated platforms like Soldera's Virtual Accounts.
The audit angle is where it gets practical. If a company claims renewable energy use but can't show cancellation certificates through a recognised registry, that claim won't hold up.
Operating via the The I-TRACK Foundation, International Renewable Energy Certificates (I-RECs) are the predominant international EAC, and can be accessed via the Evident registry or Virtual Accounts. Unlike other EACs, they never expire. They must be redeemed in the same market where the energy was generated and are equal to one megawatt-hour of renewable generation. I-RECs are issued by local issuers: all I-REC issuers are published by Evident, as well as a list of I-REC(E) participants.
A market boundary is the geographic area, usually a single electricity grid or country-level jurisdiction, where power gets generated and used. The GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance (soon to undergo revision to tighten this rule further in Europe) and RE100 both require that market-based renewable energy claims stay inside these boundaries, including regulatory boundaries (regulatory regimes must be shared within a market boundary to enable a valid transfer). So a REGO bought in the UK can only back UK consumption, a Guarantee of Origin covers AIB-Hub connected countries (or, increasingly, operates via "AIB grid-connected" principles), a REC works in North America, and an I-REC applies in the country where it was issued. The certificate has to match where your actual electricity load sits. When a company operates across multiple countries, each with its own registry and rules, keeping track of all this becomes a real headache, leading teams to turn to platforms with global registry integrations and virtual accounts like Soldera.
Merit order is how electricity grids decide which power plants run first. The cheapest sources get dispatched before expensive ones, so renewables (with near-zero marginal costs) typically go ahead of fossil fuels. The EU's Electricity Market Design and the UK's Balancing Mechanism both formalize this. More renewables on the grid pushes wholesale prices down and reduces carbon intensity.
That said, merit order only covers what physically happens on the grid. It says nothing about who gets to claim that renewable energy. For that, you need Energy Attribute Certificates. Under the GHG Protocol's market-based Scope 2 method, companies prove renewable consumption by buying and cancelling Guarantees of Origin through registries like AIB, or through platforms such as Soldera Virtual Accounts. These certificates work independently of what's actually flowing through the wires at any given moment.
This means sustainability teams are managing two separate things at once. The grid might be running clean because of merit order effects, but your company's renewable claims still depend on having the right certificates cancelled against your actual consumption. You need both the physical dispatch story and the contractual evidence to line up, otherwise your carbon accounting has gaps.
The NHS Net Zero Supplier Roadmap lays out the timeline every NHS supplier has to follow to meet the health service's Net Zero target of 2045. It rolls out in stages. Since April 2024, any company bidding for NHS contracts needs a Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP). The next milestones hit in 2027 and 2028, when suppliers will have to report their full global Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions and provide carbon footprints at the product level.
Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs) are how suppliers deal with Scope 2 emissions, which covers electricity use. In the UK, these certificates are called REGOs. Buying them lets a company use the "market-based" reporting method, meaning their renewable electricity purchases actually show up in the numbers. That brings down the reported carbon footprint and keeps the company eligible to supply the NHS.
Power Purchase Agreements bind electricity buyers to specific generation facilities through contracts spanning 10-25 years, occasionally longer, allowing for long term hedging and predictability regarding the cost of power. Physical PPAs deliver electricity, typically via the grid. Financial PPAs (termed virtual PPAs or contracts for differences) settle the differential between contract strike price and wholesale market indices. Renewable PPAs are contractual instruments under market-based Scope 2 because environmental attributes transfer: typical PPA structures explicitly include certificate transfers.
RE100 functions as a private corporate electricity procurement standard & initiative. Member companies source 100% renewable electricity, aligned with their self-declared deadlines. The initiative defines eligible sourcing instruments and credible claims via technical specifications and guidelines that are maintained by The Climate Group.
NYC's Local Law 97 lets building owners use Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to offset electricity-related carbon limits. Rule 103-06 spells out how this works. The key restriction is geographic: your RECs have to come from generators on the NYC grid (Zone J), or through NYSERDA's Tier 4 program. Buying a certificate from a wind farm in Texas won't cut it. This is where Local Law 97 differs from other certificate systems around the world. REGOs in the UK, Guarantees of Origin in Europe, and international I-RECs all let you claim renewable energy without proving it was delivered to a specific grid. Local Law 97 doesn't. If it wasn't generated in or delivered into Zone J, it doesn't count. On the compliance side, eligible RECs need to be cancelled through the NYGATS tracking platform to count toward the 2024 targets. Get this wrong and you're looking at penalties, so it's worth double-checking that any certificates you're buying actually meet the locational requirements before assuming they'll cover your building's obligations.
RE100 uses "reasonably close to the reporting year", and GHG protocol uses "redeemed as close as possible" to set how old an Energy Attribute Certificate (EAC) can be when matched against your energy consumption. It's a core requirement for Scope 2 market-based accounting, and the specific rules depend on where you're operating.
In the EU, national regulations under the RED III framework govern when Guarantees of Origin (GOs) can be issued and cancelled. We did an overview article on this topic here.
Outside the EU, the GHG Protocol sets a twenty-one-month vintage window: generation from six months before to three months after the reporting period. This window applies to whichever EAC type you're procuring, whether that's North American RECs, UK REGOs, or I-RECs in emerging markets. Cancellation (or redemption, in REGO terminology) happens through the relevant registry or via Soldera Virtual Accounts to streamline the process across different certificate types. The vintage timing is worth getting right. Certificates outside this window simply won't count toward your Scope 2 claims. Auditors check vintage dates, and getting this wrong means your renewable energy claims don't hold up, or worse, you get flagged for double-counting.
