Over the past few years, renewable and clean energy projects have maintained an upward growth trajectory. As per the recent NDC synthesis of UNFCCC large number of countries consider renewable energy to be biggest mitigation opportunity for the world. According to a 2021 study by International Energy Agency, the next five years will witness renewables accounting for 95% of the increase in global power capacity. Penetration of renewable technologies can significantly catalyze the decarbonization journey across all sectors. In catalyzing its efforts to promote the development of renewables, the Global Carbon Council (GCC) has recently released an upgraded third version of its baseline and monitoring methodology titled ‘Methodology for Renewable Energy Generation Projects Supplying Electricity to Grid or Captive Consumers’. GCC’s baseline and monitoring methodologies provide objective methods and algorithms to measure greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions of projects in accordance with international protocols and are consistent with UNFCCC’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
As MENA region’s first and only voluntary carbon offsetting program, GCC’s methodologies support project owners of eligible greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction projects to calculate emission reduction of their projects, monitor the emission reductions and develop the project submission in accordance with the methodologies. Reductions achieved from green projects are eventually translated into tradeable carbon offsets.
The latest version of GCCM001, which was first published in 2019, accommodates a widened scope of project activities featuring innovative renewable technologies to curb their GHG emissions. Among the additional applicable project activities is the battery storage solution (BESS) within the renewable energy projects. By incorporating plant-connected energy storage systems, projects utilizing BESS technologies expand the utilization capacity of renewable energy in the grid, thereby increasing the amount of GHG emission reductions caused by the project. GCCM001’s latest version sets new algorithm to calculate and monitor increased GHG reductions resulting from BESS utilization. Another feature that enhances the methodology’s scope compared to its preceding version is that it provides calculation and monitoring tools for renewable projects catering to captive consumption, in addition to project activities supplying renewable energy to the grid.
In today’s climate-conscious world, companies across the globe are pledging to cut down their carbon emissions which in many cases cannot be fully eliminated. By offsetting these unavoidable emissions, environmentally responsible businesses are supporting the development of green projects through carbon markets. In this context, GCC’s latest methodology is aimed at improving the utilization factor and usability of renewable power generation projects.
Project activities eligible to use GCC’s latest methodology include solar photovoltaic, on-shore or off-shore wind, tidal and/or wave energy projects supplying electricity to either through grid or to specific identified user/s. The methodology has been kept simple so far, applicable to the project activities which do not have project emissions.
