WHEN IS RENEWABLE ENERGY MADE OF FOSSIL FUEL?
How would any of us feel if we had signed up for a “100% Renewable” energy tariff, to supply the electricity for our household, but found our money was being used to pay gas, coal and nuclear fuelled power stations for the electricity we are using? That is what most of our energy supply companies are doing.
Fossil fuel sources, such as gas, oil and coal, are non-renewable. They contribute to pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Nuclear fuel is also non-renewable, as supplies have to be mined and radioactive waste stored. Renewable sources like wind, sun and water are different. They too need infrastructure, like buildings and machinery, much more so if processed centrally rather than locally. However their supply is sustainable and unlimited, and they produce energy without emissions.
These sources are converted to energy and fed into the national grid. Supply companies buy this electricity and sell it to us, their customers. Accounts are kept of what is fed into and taken out of the grid. This way, the source and amount can be tracked, even though the actual electricity is all mixed together in the grid. Unless you are getting your electricity direct from a renewable source, rather than through the grid, this mixture is unavoidable and not per se necessarily undesirable.
So how are we supplied fossil fuel energy branded as “100% renewable”? Renewable generators - such as wind farms, solar projects and hydro-electric schemes - are granted a Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO) certificate by Ofgem for every block of units they produce. But there is a loophole. Ofgem allows these REGO certificates to be sold separately from their blocks of energy. Suppliers can buy inexpensive surplus REGOs, without having to buy any renewable electricity at all.
Ofgem allows them to report the fuel mix of the REGO certificates they have bought, instead of the fuel mix of the electricity they have actually purchased on the wholesale market. The electricity from those REGOs may even have been already bought and used by another business or customer, who did not want to pay extra for their certificates. This way, when we pay our supplier for “100% renewable” electricity, they can purchase the same amount of non-renewable wholesale electricity from one generator or broker plus an equivalent amount of surplus REGOs from another.
A report in 2021 (1) looked at “100% Renewable” tariffs from twelve household energy suppliers. Only three bought 100% renewable electricity AND the associated REGOs. Another three bought only fossil-fuelled or unspecified mixed electricity, and only the 'empty' REGOs from renewable suppliers. The other six ranged from nearly all to hardly any of their supply being genuinely renewable.
The market has changed. Many smaller suppliers have gone out of business, and large multi-nationals now dominate the scene. If anything, the picture seems worse today.
Astonishingly, Ofgem allows this. Ofgem is the regulator that oversees the energy market in the UK on behalf of the government. In its report 'Net Zero Britain', Ofgem talks about its priorities for reform. However it makes no mention of this practice. Comments on the report can be sent by 8th August 2022. This is a chance for us to tell them to end this policy. Details of how to comment are at the end of the report:
WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THIS?
At POWER we are taking our first steps from consumers to producers of our own energy. There is no place for fake certification in community schemes and energy co-operatives so you can have confidence when joining or starting one.
We can comment on the Ofgem report (above) by 8th August 2022, and tell them to stop allowing REGOs to be sold separately from the power they relate to.
We can write to our MP’s asking them to take action to close this loophole.
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/ is a fantastic way of contacting your local MP even if you aren’t 100% sure who they are. You just need your postcode!
Some quite readable articles and reports on the issues with REGOs :-
(1) https://www.baringa.com/en/insights-news/points-of-view/renewable-tariffs-in-the-uk-what-makes-a-tariff-g/
https://www.goodenergy.co.uk/media/18782/the-problem-of-greenwashing-october-2020.pdf
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/aug/15/renewable-electricity-deals-investigated-by-uk-government
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/apr/02/green-energy-tariff-renewable-deals
https://indd.adobe.com/view/e5febc9c-8ced-47e5-b376-f97fd51137af
MARK ERIS
