I-REC Certificate

 

I-REC Certificate is a documented record of the fact that electricity is produced from a certain source (for instance, from solar energy) by a generator or a group of generators listed in the I-REC Registry. GNS issues I-REC certificates on generator's request. The generator sells its renewable energy certificates to traders or end users — corporations that want to make claims that they have fully or partially switched to renewable energy consumption.

 

The I-REC Standard Foundation implements best practices for the avoidance of double counting, double certificate issuance and double attribute claiming. I-REC Certificates are issued in adherence with such international sustainability standards as GHGP, CDP, RE100, ISO and others. Energy consumers can use I-RECs to meet the requirements of these standards and corporate social responsibility policies.

 

I-RECs allow end-users (beneficiaries) make the following claims

• “Our factory runs on 100% renewable energy”,

• “Our products are made with 100% wind energy”,

• “Our global electricity usage causes zero end-of-pipe emissions”.

 

I-REC Registry

 

The I-REC Registry is a single central registry that can be accessed via the Internet. The key document that defines the operation of the I-REC Registry is the I-REC Code. This document contains the basic principles and a general description of the operation of the registry. Detailed procedures are contained in Code Subsidiary Documents (available in English only).

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Roles in the I-REC Registry

 

• Local issuer may be a governmental or non-governmental organization acting in a particular country or region.  A local issuer registers generating devices, verifies the supporting evidence of production events and issues I-RECs. A local issuer must be authorized by the I-REC Standard Foundation. GNS is the local issuer in Russia.

• Registrant is a production device owner or entity acting on its behalf that is registered in the I-REC Registry. Russian registrants sign the Standard Terms Agreement and communicate on I-RECs issuance with GNS.

• Participant is a trader or end-user of I-RECs that has at least one participant account on the I-REC Registry. Participants sign agreements directly with the I-REC Services to create and maintain their accounts. Any legal entity or organization, other than issuers and service providers of I-REC, as well as any individual, can be an I-REC participant. End-users of I-RECs may be either I-REC participants with their own accounts or traders' clients without their own accounts. Last ones get their I-RECs redeemed on their behalf by their traders using traders' redemption accounts. If necessary, you can be both a registrant and a participant.

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I-RECs issuance

 

For a generator, the first step in I-RECs issuance is to sign the Standard Terms Agreement with GNS as well as filling out the CSD01 form. These documents are signed by the head of the generating company and sealed. The documents are accompanied by a certificate of incorporation and a copy of the balance sheet for the last 12 months. All these documents are sent to info@gns.center. Consideration of an application takes 1-2 weeks, after that a company becomes a registrant in the I-REC Registry and receives a login and password for the personal account

 

The next step is to register devices (power plants) or groups of devices in the I-REC Registry. To do this, a registrant collects the following set of documents:

• Completed CSD02 application form, signed by the head of the generating company and sealed,

• Details of a registrant (company card),

• Photos of a power plant,

• Document confirming that a registered device or a group of devices produces electricity from renewable energy sources,

• Single line diagram.

 

This set of documents is submitted online through a registrant's personal account in the I-REC Registry. Verification of documents and registration of a power plant usually takes less than one week. By March 2022, 86 Russian power plants were registered in the I-REC Registry.

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I-RECs issuance is possible only after electricity from renewable energy sources has been produced and given that all necessary documents have been provided. To issue I-RECs, a registrant provides the following documents:

• Completed CSD02 application form, signed by the head of the generating company and sealed,

• Documents confirming the generation of electricity from renewable energy sources (certificates of the Market Council or data from ASKUE / AIIS KUE).

 

The set of documents is submitted online through a registrant's personal account in the I-REC Registry. Verification of documents and I-RECs issuance usually take less than one week. More than 3.5 million I-REC certificates have been issued in Russia in the period between December 2020 and March 2022.

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I-RECs purchasing and redemption

 

A certificate can only belong to one participant at a time. All claims related to a particular certificate can be made only after its redemption. I-RECs are redeemed by I-REC participants from their accounts. To do this, an I-REC must be removed from a participant account and placed in a participant redemption account, from which it cannot be returned. After that, the participant can make a statement that it has consumed a certain amount of electricity (specified in a certificate) produced from renewable energy sources.

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Fees

 

There are following GNS fees for renewable power generators in Russia:

• Registration of a power plant (device) in the I-REC Registry for 5 years — 62,500 rubles without VAT
  (75,000 rubles with VAT),

• I-RECs issuance — 1.7 rubles/MWh without VAT (2.04 rubles/MWh with VAT).

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There are following I-REC Services fees for I-RECs purchasers (participants):

• Single fee for creating an account — 500 €,

• Fee for account maintaining — 2,000 € per year,

• Fee for I-REC certificate redemption — 0.06 €/MWh.

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