The UK's first independent biomethane renewable gas guarantees of origin (RGGO) auction is due to take place on 5 February. It will be run by UK auction provider E-power, which currently runs auctions for power purchase agreement (PPAs), renewable obligation certificates (ROCs) and renewable energy guarantees of origin (Regos). Argus spoke to E-power managing director Melanie Reay about the new auction. Edited highlights follow:
UK biomethane producer Future Biogas is providing the certificates for the auction, how did this partnership come about?
Future Biogas contacted us in May following a conference in Glasgow, and was keen to develop a platform to sell its RGGOs. Since then, we have been working on what the platform would look like and testing it so that it will be ready for the first auction next week.
What types of buyers are you expecting to participate in the auctions?
We have invited buyers from our ROCs and Regos auctions, a lot of which have come on board. And we have also been provided with a list of customers that Future Biogas has dealt with in the past. Anyone who wants can take part in the auction, they just need to sign a registration form, which binds them for any bids they make in the auction. We are expecting a lot more interest over the next few days, especially once we have published the list of what lots are in the auction. We have already got some registration forms from international buyers. A lot of Rego buyers are international so they are used to our auction platform and were keen to sign up to this RGGO auction as well.
For those familiar with E-power's Rego, ROC and power auctions, will there be any key differences in how the RGGO auction is run?
No, the auction platform has been designed off the back of the Rego auction, so everything that is in the sale will be in specific lots and you will be able to see what technology the RGGOs come from and when they were produced. This is the first auction so I would not expect it to have lots of certificates. The platform is quite adaptable, so if there is some functionality that we have missed we can adapt it for future auctions.
How do you see this auction affecting the UK RGGO market?
It will make the market a bit more transparent, because if you are logged on you can see what other people are bidding. Future Biogas will set the reserve prices for all the lots, so it will decide where to start the prices in the auction. At the moment, no one is publishing or declaring what they are selling and for what prices.
Do you hope the UK will move closer to using the auction model more often?
There are definitely a lot a benefits to an auction model, rather than [trading happening] behind the scenes. To be transparent about where the certificates are trading helps sellers know what the certificates are worth. Buyers are not paying a fee [to take part in the auction], whereas with the broker model a fee would be paid by the seller and the buyer. With our auction platform, only the seller has fees.
What volumes and types of biomethane will be available in the auction?
We do not know at this point in time, but Future Biogas will be providing a mixture from a few different sites. Prior to the auction, all the lots will be held in the E-power RGGO account so buyers will be able to see an extract from that.
Will you hold more auctions after the first one on 5 February?
Yes. Since we started talking to Future Biogas, we have had enquiries from other sellers, so hopefully we will be able to roll this out to other sellers. We have also had enquiries from trading companies that would like to use the platform to sell as well as buy.