White Papers and Articles

Residual Mix Calculation at the Heart of Reliable Electricity Disclosure in Europe—A Case Study on the Effect of the RE-DISS Project. Energies, 2015.

Grexel’s CEO, Marko Lehtovaara, and Markus Klimscheffskij, together with other authors, co-wrote an article discussing the effect of proper residual mix calculation for the reliability of electricity disclosure information in Europe. Quoting the article, “In order to be considered reliable, GOs require the support of an implicit disclosure system, a residual mix, which prevents once explicitly tracked attributes from being double counted in a default energy mix.” The paper highlights how, by addressing 5 major problems of implicit disclosure, 16 European countries have reduced double counting of renewable attributes by 70 TWh and total disclosure error by 168 TWh during the course of the RE-DISS project phase 1.

Calculation of European residual mixes. 2009 – today

Electricity Disclosure is a requirement implemented in the revised Electricity Market Directive (2009/72/EC). The objective of disclosure is to provide consumers with relevant information about power generation and to allow for informed consumer choice, and for choice not to be based on electricity prices alone. In a liberalised market, disclosure requires some sort of tracking of the required attributes from generation to the supplier. For a proper disclosure of the electricity mix, suppliers can use Guarantees of Origin to account for the share of green electricity they sell and / or a set of default statistic values, the residual mix to account for the rest of the electricity. Grexel has been participating in the calculation of European residual mixes since 2009.

Call for Economic Sustainability – European Renewable Energy Support Schemes and the Market. 2014.

Renewable Energy Expert, Martin Aalto, master thesis provides the historical and contextual background, drivers, and assessment of harmonising current heterogeneous national renewable energy support schemes into a common European alternative that would outweigh the status quo, most noticeably in cost-efficiency and market orientation. The thesis suggests that a more international approach should be taken in supporting more mature renewable technologies. In more detail, it would require a multilateral market-based quota system – best achieved by introducing a European Tradable Green Certificate scheme based on current institution and market of Guarantee of Origin.

Drivers of Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Green Electricity and Remarks on Information Policies. 2014.

Renewable Energy Expert, Leticia David, approaches the topic of green electricity demand and drivers of green consumption. Green electricity consumption induced by improved information on electricity sources appears as an additional alternative to renewable energy support policies in practice today. It is believed that a shift of the demand towards green sources can stimulate renewable generation and have a positive impact on the environment. However, this voluntary initiative will only work if green electricity is perceived worth paying a premium for. The thesis tries to recognize what motivates consumers to select a green electricity product and explores how behaviour may be changed with correct information policy implementation.

Energy Certificates in Europe – What Tax Authorities Need to Know about the Markets. Tax tribune, 2013.

Grexel’s CEO, Marko Lehtovaara, and Markus Klimscheffskij, co-wrote an Article for issue 29 of the Tax Tribune: Magazine of the Intra-European Organisation of Tax Administrations. The Article covers basics of energy certification and emphasis the viewpoint of Tax Administrators. The aim of the Article is to increase the knowledge of Tax Administrators about energy certificates, in order for them to be better equipped to protect the field from VAT fraudsters. Grexel is a member of the Anti-VAT Fraud taskforce of the AIB.

Tracking of Electricity in the EU – From Directives to Practice. 2011. Available on request.

Markus Klimscheffskij’s Master thesis on implementation of Guarantees of Origin in Europe following Directive 2009/28/EC, Article 15 as well as reliable electricity disclosure following Directive 2009/72/EC, Article 3(9). The thesis assembles the existing body of knowledge on electricity tracking, strongly basing itself to learnings from E-Track, RE-DISS and EECS. The empirical part of the study focuses on residual mix calculation and draws together the role of GOs in consumer empowerment and environmental economics.