Biomass Sustainability
All bioliquids and solid biomass and/or Biogas/AD stations ≥1MW must report against and meet sustainability criteria in order to be eligible for Renewable Obligation Certificates. Solid biomass and/or Biogas/AD stations <1MW are required to report against the sustainability criteria, but receiving ROCs does not depend on meeting the criteria[1].
Criteria
The sustainability criteria has come from the requirements imposed via the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and are:
- Land criteria: which focuses on the land from which the biomass is sourced
- Greenhouse gas (GHG) criteria: which account for the life cycle GHG emissions of the biomass
The RED sets out the sustainability criteria a bioliquid must meet in order to receive support under national incentive schemes. The UK government has also implemented sustainability criteria for solid and gaseous biomass.
Reporting Requirements
- Land and GHG criteria. For all bioliquids and stations ≥1MW using solid biomass and/or biogas fuels, land use and GHG emission information is submitted on a monthly basis. For these stations both the land and GHG criteria must be met to be eligible for support. For stations <1MW using solid biomass and/or biogas this information is reported annually and does not link to ROC issue.
- Annual profiling data. The annual profiling data contains information submitted by the operator regarding the sustainability characteristics of their fuel. This includes information such as: type of biomass, the form of biomass, country of origin and whether it was wood or derived from wood. Fuelled stations >50kW declared net capacity (DNC) are required to provide this information to Ofgem following the obligation year.
- Annual Sustainability Audit Report. The Annual Sustainability Audit Report is an independent audit report commissioned by generating stations using bioliquid fuels and stations ≥1MW using solid biomass and/or biogas fuels. The aim of the audit is to verify the sustainability information that has been submitted by the operator.