The reform of the RO in 2009 also made it easier for operators using waste for eligible electricity generation under the RO to claim ROCs on the renewable energy content of that waste. This is to address the concerns industry had raised regarding the difficulties in measuring and sampling the renewable content of mixed waste, in particular MSW, in a cost effective way due to the variable composition of such waste. These problems had meant that no ROCs had been issued for electricity generated from mixed waste using eligible technologies despite the fact that the EfW with CHP provision was introduced into the RO in 2006.
In order to address this, DECC has allowed Ofgem flexibility over determining the proportion of waste which is or is derived from fossil fuel, including what will constitute sufficient evidence of that proportion in any particular case.
DECC have not automatically deemed all municipal waste as having a renewable energy content of 50% without any additional evidence. This is because the varied nature of what can be defined as waste means that there will also be differing levels of renewable energy content and therefore such an approach would significantly increase the risk that ROCs could be issued for fossil fuel generation.
Ofgem can award ROCs on up to 50% of the total energy content of the municipal waste fuel stream to operators who satisfy evidential requirements without necessarily requiring those operators to directly measure the renewable energy content of the waste. Where an operator wishes to claim ROCs on more than 50% of the total energy content of the waste fuel stream they may need to directly measure the renewable energy content of the waste.
50% has been set as the maximum level of renewable content that can be declared by a generator without any direct measurement to reflect a conservative estimate of the typical composition of MSW.
It is important to note that the deeming provisions that apply to MSW do not apply to SRF. This is because SRF is a prepared fuel derived from MSW whose biomass content can vary, as described below. This does not mean a similar approach cannot be adopted for other waste streams, including SRF, just that more evidence may be required in order to agree the biomass content.
Industry should now look carefully at Ofgem's Renewables Obligation Guidance on Fuel Measurement and Sampling (reference 14 above) (27 March 2009) and to consider how to establish an evidence-based methodology for the determination of biomass content that meets the requirements of the SRF producer and user and is acceptable to Ofgem.