ResidualMixmethodologyforI-RECissuingcountriesAUTHORSHANNELERCHERAADALANDMEHRDADGHORBANIMOOSELUREPORTNO.OR.15.23YEAR2023ISBNNO.ISSNNO.REPORTTYPECONFIDENTIALITY978-82-7520-916-82703-8610CommissionedreportOpenPROJECTTITLEResidualMixMethodologyI-RECPROJECTNUMBER3400COMMISSIONEDBYI-RECStandardNUMBEROFPAGES11KEYWORDSResidualMix,RenewableEnergyCertificates,Electricity,TrackingsystemsPHOTOFRONTPAGEI-RECissuingcountries,takenfrom:https://www.irecstandard.org/world-map/iResidualMixmethodologyforI-RECissuingcountriesSummaryTheInternationalRECStandardFoundation(I-RECStandard)isanon-profitorganizationthatprovidesastandardfordevelopingattributetrackingsystems.TheI-RECStandardensuresthehighestqualitysystemsandadherencetobestpracticesdesignedtoavoiddoublecounting,doublecertificateissuance,anddoubleattributeclaims.AnI-RECcertificateforrenewableelectricity,I-REC(E)orI-REC,representstheenvironmentalattributesofthegenerationofone-megawatthour(MWh)ofenergyproducedbyrenewablesources,andcanbeusedtomakeend-userclaimsforenergy/electricityconsumption.AccordingtotheGHGProtocolaResidualMixshouldbeusedbyend-usersforanyelectricityconsumptionnottiedtoanI-RECorotherrecognizedtrackingsystemthatmeetstheScope2QualityCriteria.TheemissionsfromalluntrackedandunclaimedenergycompriseaResidualMixemissionfactor.Hence,theResidualMixisanintegralelementinpreventingdoublecountingofrenewableenergyattributesinanyenergytrackingsystem.However,countryspecificResidualMixemissionfactorsarenotfrequentlyavailableforconsumerScope2calculations.Throughthisreport,theI-RECStandardFoundationexpectstocontributetoenhancetransparencyandrobustenergyattributemarketsglobally.ThisreportrecommendsimplementingamodifiedIssuanceBased(IB)methodforcalculatingResidualMixestobeusedforI-RECissuingcountries,validfornationaltrackingmarketsthatarenotlegislativelylinkedinthesamewayasEuropeanmarketsare.ItisfurtherrecommendedthatthenationalResidualMixesarepublishedwithinoneyearafterthegenerationyear,whichmeansJanuaryinyearX+2forgenerationatanypointinyearX.However,redemption(orcancelation)dataforattributetrackingcertificatesmightstillnotbedefinitiveatthedateofpublication.ThemodifiedmethodcalculatestheResidualMixbywithdrawingtheissuedvolumefromthegeneratedvolumeintherespectiveyear.Itisthereforebasedontwoassumptions:(1)potentialunclaimedissuedI-RECsatthemomentofpublicationareassumedtoberedeemedovertime,and(2)theResidualMixvolumeisassumedtocorrespondtothevolumeofUntrackedElectricityConsumptionintherespectivecountry.Hence,theoccurrenceofapotentialsurplus/deficitofattributesisnotconsidered.TwocheckpointassumptiontestsarerecommendedtoverifythepotentialimpactofbothassumptionsfortheResidualMixcalculation.ThereportalsopresentstwodifferentwaysforcalculatingthedirectCO2emissionfactorfortheResidualMix,dependingontheavailabilityofdata.Finally,itisrecommendedthatI-RECStandardregularlyreviewsthesemethodologiesandassumptionstoensurecontinuedapplicability.I-RECshouldregularlyreviewannualcalculatedResidualMixesandunderlyingassumptionstoensurethecontinuedvalidityofthemethod.If,forexample,surplusesanddeficitsofattributecertificatesinmarketsareconsideredsubstantialorconsistentlyincreasing,orifunredeemedcertificateratestendtoincrease,theI-RECFoundationshouldreevaluatethesemethodologiesand/orproposemodificationssuchasimplementinganexpirydateforI-RECs(likeintheEuropeanGOsyst...
