What renewable energy solutions actually involve

Renewable energy solutions for corporate sustainability programmes span a wide range of technologies and procurement approaches, on-site solar PV and wind, Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with renewable generators, Energy Attribute Certificates (REGOs, GOs), corporate renewable auctions, and community energy schemes. The practical work involves assessing site-level generation potential, comparing procurement options on cost, risk, and additionality grounds, structuring contracts that provide price certainty, and integrating renewable energy into the company's Scope 2 reporting methodology. The choice of approach has significant implications for both cost and the credibility of resulting green energy claims.

Why it's harder in practice than it looks

Certificate-based claims are facing increasing scrutiny

Purchasing Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO) certificates, while legally valid for market-based Scope 2 accounting, is attracting growing criticism from investors, NGOs, and assurance providers when certificates are sourced from generators with no additionality, existing large-scale hydro, for example. The gap between the formal accounting treatment and the real-world impact of certificate purchases is becoming a credibility issue.

PPAs involve commercial and contractual complexity

Corporate Power Purchase Agreements deliver genuine additionality, funding new renewable generation capacity, but involve long-term contracts (typically 10-15 years), basis risk (the difference between the contracted price and market price), and credit requirements that create real commercial risk. Structuring a PPA requires both energy market expertise and strong legal capability.

On-site generation is constrained by site characteristics and tenure

Solar PV potential depends on roof or ground area, orientation, shading, structural loading capacity, and grid connection availability. Leased buildings require landlord consent and may have lease terms shorter than the asset life of the installation. These constraints mean on-site generation often covers only a fraction of a site's consumption.

Matching renewable supply with consumption temporally is the next frontier

24/7 carbon-free energy matching, ensuring renewable energy is available in the grid at the same time as the company's consumption, is emerging as the credibility standard beyond annual matching via certificates. This requires more sophisticated procurement structures and significantly more complex monitoring.

What good looks like

A credible renewable energy strategy starts with a consumption baseline and demand reduction programme, prioritises on-site generation where it is cost-effective, uses PPAs for additional volumes to provide additionality and price certainty, supplements with certificates only for residual volumes and from genuinely additional sources, and reports Scope 2 emissions on both location-based and market-based bases with clear explanation of the procurement approach. The strategy is reviewed against evolving additionality standards and investor expectations annually.

When to bring in external support

PPA structuring, on-site feasibility assessment, and certificate strategy design all require specialist energy market knowledge. Leafr's network includes renewable energy procurement and strategy specialists who have supported companies in structuring corporate PPAs, assessing portfolio-level renewable generation potential, and building Scope 2 strategies that withstand investor and assurance scrutiny.

Frequently asked questions

What is a Power Purchase Agreement?

A Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) is a long-term contract between a renewable energy generator and a corporate buyer for the purchase of electricity at an agreed price. Corporate PPAs provide generators with revenue certainty that enables project financing, and provide buyers with price certainty and a credible claim to additionality, because the PPA directly finances new renewable capacity. PPAs are structured as physical (direct supply) or virtual (financial contract with grid supply), with different risk profiles and geographic requirements.

What is the difference between a REGO and a GO?

A Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO) is the UK certificate system for renewable energy. A Guarantee of Origin (GO) is the EU equivalent, used in the European market. Both represent one megawatt-hour of electricity generated from a renewable source and are used for market-based Scope 2 accounting. Since Brexit, UK REGOs and EU GOs are separate systems, and companies operating in both markets may need both types of certificate depending on their consumption locations.

Do renewable energy certificates provide genuine environmental benefit?

This is contested. Certificates provide a verifiable administrative claim to renewable generation, but unless they are purchased from genuinely additional new capacity, generation that would not have been built without the certificate revenue, they may not represent a real-world reduction in grid emissions. Most REGOs in the UK market come from existing large-scale hydro and wind that would operate regardless of certificate sales. PPAs from new-build projects and additionality-screened certificates provide greater genuine environmental benefit.

What is on-site solar PV and when is it worth considering?

On-site solar PV involves installing photovoltaic panels on a company's own roofs or land to generate electricity for self-consumption, with any surplus exported to the grid. It is worth considering when roof or ground area is sufficient, the site has a high daytime electricity demand profile, grid connection capacity is available, and the building tenure is long enough to recover the capital cost. Commercial solar PV in the UK typically achieves payback in six to twelve years and generates Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin that can be used for market-based Scope 2 claims.

How does renewable energy procurement affect Scope 2 reporting?

The GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance requires companies to report Scope 2 on both a location-based basis (using grid average emission factors) and a market-based basis (using the emission factor of the specific electricity procured). Renewable energy certificates allow companies to claim a market-based Scope 2 of zero for the electricity they cover. PPAs similarly allow market-based claims for the contracted volume. Both figures must be disclosed, companies cannot report only market-based figures, and the certificates or contracts used must be specified.