Transactions
Issuance
Issuance is the act of creating new energy attribute certificates in a registry, based on verified renewable energy generation. Each MWh of qualifying production results in one EAC being credited to the generator's account.
What triggers issuance?
A registry issues an EAC after it has received and validated production data showing that 1 MWh of renewable electricity (or in some markets, renewable gas or heat) was produced by an accredited facility. The data typically comes from settlement meters reporting through the local grid operator or a designated meter data administrator.
Who can request issuance?
Only the generator, or an authorized agent acting on their behalf, can request issuance of EACs for their own production. The facility must be accredited under the relevant scheme, such as Ofgem accreditation for REGOs or I-TRACK Foundation-recognized Issuer accreditation for I-RECs.
What information is recorded at issuance?
Each EAC is stamped at issuance with the data that gives it value: the generating facility, the country and grid region, the production period (the vintage), the technology used, the facility's commissioning date, and whether the generator received any public financial support. These data points determine which buyers can use the certificate to make valid renewable energy claims, since standards like the GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance and frameworks like RE100 impose specific eligibility rules.
What is an issuance period?
An issuance period is the window during which a certificate can be requested for a given production period. For European GoOs under the EECS standard, generators typically have up to 12 months after the end of the production period to request issuance, though some national registries extend this window. UK REGOs follow a similar deadline aligned with the annual compliance period. Missing the issuance period means the renewable energy was produced but no certificate can be created to evidence it.
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