Energy supplier npower Business Solutions has joined forces with energy management service provider Granular Energy to provide its business customers with advanced renewable energy reporting.
Using Granular Energy’s software, npower’s business customers on the UK Renewable Pure and UK Renewable Pure Plus products will be able to see comprehensive reports on their Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) programme commitments and a full breakdown of energy sources for their businesses. Businesses will receive an annual report including a breakdown showing how their consumption is matched by each renewable energy asset type, as well as information about carbon impact.
Ben Whitelam, director of commercial at npower, said: “Businesses increasingly want to buy their power from renewable sources to both reduce their emissions and improve their security of supply. That said, it is also important that there is complete transparency and traceability around how and where this power is sourced, so organisations can confidently shout about their renewable credentials.
“This partnership with Granular Energy provides another layer of detail, giving organisations clarity on the source of their energy. It also greatly reduces the level of manual reporting required for Scope 2 emissions, as well as providing increased accuracy.”
Potential REGO reform
The REGO scheme was developed in order to provide consumers with clear information about the proportion of electricity that suppliers source from renewables, as well as allowing business to prove their commitment to green energy procurement when they provide their emissions reporting.
While software improvements that provide more detailed reporting are undoubtedly a positive move for businesses, many argue that the entire REGO scheme needs reform.
Last month, ten of the UK’s largest businesses, led by the Climate Group, urged energy secretary Ed Miliband to speed up reforms to the REGO scheme to expand the rollout of renewable energy. The signatories, who include the BT Group, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Good Energy, and Google, make several recommendations for reforms to the scheme, including shifting to the hourly matching of supply and consumption of renewables, as opposed to the current annual system. The signatories of the letter suggest that this kind of reform would enable the system to more accurately match production and consumption of renewable electricity.
Some business energy suppliers do already offer this as an option for their customers; in October 2023, Good Energy opened hourly renewable energy matching for its business clients in an effort to provide an “extra layer of transparency” above and beyond the REGO scheme.
