Centrica : Setting the standard for business renewable electricity

There is a growing demand for renewable energy contracts coming from the business sector, as company leaders react to the political, economic and social factors driving the need to become more sustainable and low carbon.

Businesses now face real challenges to reduce emissions by 20% by 2030, as laid out in the government's Clean Growth Strategy. Recent changes to business carbon reporting frameworks also mean thousands more large companies will need to formally disclose their carbon emissions from April next year.

We work with several of the UK's largest businesses to ensure that when they disclose their carbon emissions information, they can do so with complete confidence that every megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity they have used is exactly matched with guarantee of origin certificates created from credible renewable sources.

But last year, some of our business customers expressed a need for more verification in the renewable energy supply market, and showed concern about the legitimacy and quality of what they were buying.

I believe we as energy suppliers have a responsibility to build trust and confidence in this growing area of energy generation, so that we create customer demand and a growth in supply that will ultimately mean it is widely available, at no extra cost and supplied as standard. So, we decided to take the lead among the large energy suppliers and demonstrate the quality of our products.

Gaining assurance from the Carbon Trust for our business renewable products represents our firm commitment to meeting our customers' needs. Through a rigorous testing process with the Carbon Trust, we have proven that 100% of the electricity we supply is renewable, and backed by guarantee of origin certificates. Our renewable electricity is sourced from solar photovoltaic (PV), wind generation, landfill gas, and biomass, much of it being generated in the UK.

I am proud that we can give our business customers the confidence they need to report zero grams CO2 per kWh from purchased electricity using the market-based reporting method, in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol scope 2 Guidance.

But more importantly, I hope it will raise the standard of renewable energy tariffs in the UK, so that we can create more demand which will ultimately help our customers, our business and our country.