The Open Sustainability Policy Summit 2024 hosted a panel titled “Identifying Data Dependencies for a Robust Granular Certificate Marketplace” (video follows below). Moderated by Katie Soroye, VP of Granular Procurement Solutions at LevelTen Energy, the session featured insights from Karl Breustedt (Senior Director of Business Development and Operations, Singularity Energy), James Critchfield (Director, Green Power Partnership, US Environmental Protection Agency), and Killian Daly (Executive Director, EnergyTag). Here are the key takeaways:
1. Evolution of the Granular Certificate Marketplace
Soroye highlighted LevelTen Energy’s pioneering efforts in launching the first marketplace for power purchase agreements (PPAs) in 2018, now the largest in the world. Responding to feedback from major buyers and sellers seeking to achieve hourly matching and emission reduction goals, LevelTen Energy initiated the Granular Certificate Trading Alliance in partnership with ICE. This new marketplace aims to facilitate the trading of granular certificates, representing more precise energy attributes aligned with grid realities.
2. Standardization and Global Efforts
Daly shared insights from EnergyTag’s work on developing a standard for granular certificates. This effort, supported by over 100 organizations globally, aims to move beyond annual certificates towards more precise, time- and location-based energy tracking. Daly emphasized the importance of standardization in enabling the effective transfer and validation of energy certificates across regions and markets, ensuring transparency and accuracy.
3. Regulatory Support and Infrastructure Development
Critchfield provided a governmental perspective, discussing the role of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in advancing voluntary public-private partnerships to improve environmental outcomes. Critchfield underscored the necessity of robust tracking systems and regulatory frameworks to support granular certificate markets. He highlighted the importance of transparency, universal tracking, and preventing double counting to maintain the integrity and value of energy certificates.
4. Challenges and Solutions in Market Adoption
Breustedt from Singularity Energy addressed the operational challenges in adopting granular certificates. He pointed out the difficulties businesses face in managing certificates across multiple states and regions due to varying standards and regulations. Breustedt advocated for enhanced transparency and universal tracking to streamline certificate ownership and usage, making it easier for companies to participate in the granular certificate marketplace.
5. Future Outlook and Strategic Implementation
The panelists collectively emphasized the need for a phased approach to implement granular certificate systems effectively. They discussed the potential for granular certificates to support innovative procurement strategies like 24/7 matching, which aligns energy procurement with actual consumption patterns. The conversation also touched on emerging policies like the 45V hydrogen production tax credits and international carbon border adjustment mechanisms, highlighting the growing demand for granular, real-time data in energy markets.
