On 1 April this year, the Renewables Obligation Order 2009 came into force, creating some big changes for renewable electricity generators receiving Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) under the original order.

The original 2002 order placed an obligation on suppliers to source increasing amounts of their sales from accredited renewable electricity generators.  This was done by purchasing ROCs, with one ROC issued per Megawatt hour (MWh) of renewable electricity generated.

The changes brought into play this week however vary the number of ROCs that can be sold per MWh according to the technology used.

Advanced energy from waste technologies such as Pyrolisis and Anaerobic Digestion are likely to receive 2 ROCs per MWh, whilst landfill gas has been downgraded to a quarter of its former level at just 0.25 ROCs per MWh. Offshore wind schemes have been upgraded to 1.5 ROCs per MWh.

However, existing landfills generating gas, or those with accreditation received before the order came into force will be permitted to carry forward their existing ROCs at one ROC per MWh – a system referred to as “grandfathering”.

The renewables obligation is estimated to generate around £1 billion per year from 2010.