Carbon-Free Chronicles: The essential round up of news and reports relating to 24/7 clean energy for September 2024

What we’re reading

Climate Group launches the 24/7 Carbon-Free Coalition pilot

• At New York Climate Week, Climate Group launched the 24/7 Carbon-Free Electricity (CFE) Campaign, aimed at accelerating the global shift to clean energy by sourcing carbon-free electricity that matches consumption in real-time.
• The initiative will be piloted by major companies, including Google, AstraZeneca, Iron Mountain Data Centers, Shree Cement, AirTrunk, and Vodafone (UK), and will inform business guidelines on measuring and reporting 24/7 CFE progress. Criteria to join the campaign will become available in early 2025.

BCG calls for greater granularity in GHG Scope 2 accounting

• In a new report, BCG calls out the inaccury of current Scope 2 emissions accounting methodology.
• The report details what Granular Scope 2 accounting should look like: locational and time-matched. This more accurate accounting method would help companies make more informed decisions to decarbonise.
• The report provides a scorecard on respective country or region readiness for granular scope 2 accounting, according to data availability and systems in place. France, Spain, Texas and California score high on readiness - yet all countries reviewed still have to make progress when it comes to energy attribute registry preparedness.

Supply shift: phasing out coal and reopening nuclear

• In the UK, where the first coal-fired electric plant was built, the last remaining plant has officially closed. Wind and solar generation has increased greatly over recent years and will replace generation from the retired plant.
• This marks the first G7 country to completely phase out coal-fired electricity; Italy and Canada are soon to follow. Additionally, 75% of the 38 OECD countries are on paths to phase out coal power by 2030.
• While coal is shutting down, Constellation Energy in the US is set to reopen one of the nuclear reactors at Three Mile Island. This marks the first time in US history that a nuclear reactor has been recommissioned after closer.
• Microsoft, as a financial backer of the recommissioning, signed a 20-year PPA to supply electricity to its data centers. Nuclear energy poses a potential solution for data centers’ electricity use, as it provides round the clock carbon-free energy.

Securing a global renewable energy supply

• 473 GW of utility-scale renewable energy projects were added to grids around the world in 2023. 81% of those projects had lower costs than fossil fuel alternatives, according to a new IRENA report. Despite decreasing fossil fuel prices, renewable power remains cost-competitive.
• With financially accessible renewable energy, the IEA indicates that the goal of tripling global renewable energy capacity by 2030 is within reach. This also requires domestic energy policies and further investment in grid modernization, storage solutions, and other clean tech.

What we’re writing (and saying)

SmartestEnergy launches Traceable Renewable Supply

• Developed in collaboration with Granular Energy, SmartestEnergy’s newest green product delivers half-hourly matching of renewable energy consumption to its corporate energy buyers.
• With higher detail consumption and matching information, companies have the tools to move beyond current standards, comply with latest regulation, and set new benchmarks for carbon-free energy leadership.

Putting a spotlight on Guarantee of Origin (GO) attributes in the German market

• Pal Habsburg-Lothringen joined the Digital Trader Summit webinar to discuss evolving demand and differing qualities of GOs in Germany.
• With a significant portion of GOs imported from other European countries, German energy buyers are concerned about the limited effect of their purchases within Germany. GOs with specific attributes, such as location and asset age, are gaining popularity, and energy buyers are prepared to pay more for higher quality certificates.
• Learn more and watch the webinar here.

Ensuring the safety and privacy of customer data

• Granular Energy is committed to providing reliable and secure software solutions. To strengthen that promise, we have completed the SOC 2 attestation process.
• This means that our compliance framework, processes, systems and controls meet the high standards in data security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy, as defined by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Granular Energy’s upstream certificate management tools

• With increasingly dynamic markets, higher energy buyer demand, and stronger regulation, managing Electricity Attribute Certificates (EACs) is getting more complex. That’s why we are building the tools and services to cater specifically to EAC management and trading needs.
• Our upcoming features will help suppliers streamline EAC operations and reduce risks of errors, double counting, and disconnect between trading and customer reporting. Read more about the features here.