French renewable electricity association Qui est Vert has urged the French state to take guarantees of origin (GOOs) into account for companies' domestic carbon disclosure reporting.
"The exclusion of GOOs from the calculation of the carbon footprint is harming French demand for GOOs," Qui est Vert president Ivan Debay said at an industry event in Paris on Tuesday. He also advocated for a market-based approach, where companies report their electricity purchases as well as renewable energy certificates used to document consumption of renewable power.
Under French legislation, public services and companies with more than 500 employees have to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions but different methodologies exist to report them. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol methodology is commonly used, although the association recently held a consultation on its interpretation of market mechanisms in its methodology. But the French methodology follows a location-based approach, where companies report the residual mix of the country where power is consumed. And that methodology is not likely to change in the near future, Julie Cousin from consulting firm EcoAct said at the event.
Debay also highlighted that GOOs allow for clearer structuring of power purchase agreements (PPAs), which the government is planning to develop through a public structure providing a financial guarantee.
France has emitted 96.63TWh of GOOs in 2021, of which 38TWh have been exported. Voluntary green power consumption stood at 12.6pc in France, compared with 30pc in the EU.
