UK Green Gas certificate demand smashes the 1TWh barrier
Suppliers have now sold enough renewable gas through the Green Gas Certification Scheme (GGCS) to cover the annual consumption of 83,000 homes, cook 300 million Sunday roasts, or fry four billion eggs.
The scheme is announcing today that sales of its certificates have now hit 1 TWh.
Increasing numbers of consumers are becoming aware that, just as they can buy renewable electricity ‘certificates’, the rapid growth in the number of plants injecting biomethane into the gas grid is opening opportunities to include green gas as part of their energy mix.
Nearly all the leading business energy suppliers are now using the GGCS to offer green gas to their customers, with Corona Energy making the largest volume of sales to date.
High profile businesses such as Sainsbury’s, Kingspan, Landsec and Unilever are now using Green Gas Certificates to drive down their reported onsite greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 emissions).
Sewage sludge
In the water sector, Wessex Water and Severn Trent are showing the role renewable gas can play in the circular economy, powering their operations with biomethane produced from the sewage sludge they process.
There are an estimated 200,000 households signed up to green gas tariffs across eight different energy suppliers, with E.ON recently announcing that its new EV tariff will come with 100% green gas.
The green gas market has significant scope to develop in the UK with a recent study suggesting the potential for renewable gas production to hit 149TWh by 2050 - enough to power over 10 million homes.
Jesse Scharf, scheme manager at the Green Gas Certification Scheme, said: “We’ve worked hard to raise the profile of green gas and consumers are now becoming aware of the potential for our Certificates to support their emissions reduction strategies. We have had significant growth in both sales and interest in green gas in 2017, with a fourfold increase in demand year on year.”
“With over 40 biomethane plants now part of the Scheme, representing over half the UK’s production capacity, the GGCS is well placed to meet this growing demand. We would encourage any biomethane producers who are not yet part of the scheme to get in touch and discuss how we can help support their business.”
Commenting on their involvement, Chryssa Tamvaki from Corona Energy (a supplier), said: “We’re proud to have led the development of this exciting new market in the UK.
The Green Gas Certification Scheme offers a clear, credible and transparent system for our customers to know we are supplying them with green gas that has been securely tracked through the supply chain.”
Ben Brown, Energy Bureau Manager at Landsec, a green gas consumer, explained: “The Green Gas Certification Scheme ensures we know exactly where our gas comes from and how it’s produced. This means we can make a clear ethical choice on what we purchase, minimising our own carbon emissions and driving demand for green gas to decarbonise the UK grid as well.”
Kiara Zennaro, head of Biogas at the Renewable Energy Association, added: “We’ve seen huge growth in the green gas sector since 2010 and the success of this scheme is both exciting and essential. 1TWh of sales is a great sign that this industry is maturing.”
Established in 2011 the Green Gas Certification Scheme issues Renewable Gas Guarantees of Origin (RGGOs) for units of biomethane injected into the gas grid and securely tracks them through to gas consumers who are provided with a Green Gas Certificate that can be used as evidence of their biomethane use. The Scheme was established by the REA Biogas group and is run by the Renewable Energy Association via its subsidiary Renewable Energy Assurance Limited (REAL).
