Renewable Energy Credits In Demand In US As Utility Seeks RFP For 570,000

By Saur News Bureau/ Updated On Wed, Oct 18th, 2023

Renewable Energy Credits (RECs), also termed Renewable Energy Certificates, in India are gaining wider currency in the US as utilities use them to fulfill green energy requirements for themselves and even customers in many cases. The latest is US utility FirstEnergy Ohio that has launched a request for proposal (RFP) to purchase 570,000 renewable energy credits (RECs), including solar renewable energy credits, for its Ohio subsidiary Ohio Edison.

The RECs sought in the RFP by FirstEnergy Ohio have to be in compliance with its 2023 renewable energy obligations and sourced from generating facilities certified in accordance with rules and procedures put forward by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO).They will also need to have been generated between 1 January, 2021 and 31 December, 2023.

There will be no energy or capacity purchased under the RFP, and the number of individual bidders will not be limited.

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The RFP is a competitive process managed by CRA International, Inc., a worldwide leader in providing services. Based on the RFP results, the Ohio utilities will enter into agreement(s) with winning suppliers to purchase the necessary quantities of RECs.

In another REC purchase RFP last year, FirstEnergy had 470,000 RECs in total.

The push for purchases in the US market has helped to build a market that is in its early phases, but expected to grow fast as more and more firms seek them to meet their green energy targets.

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In India of course, the market has remained a little stop start, as certification, validity and pricing are all issues, even as multiple steps have been taken to resolve these. But the basic issue of RECs supporting faster renewable growth has not really been achieved yet, as prices remain far too low to make a significant impact on developer plans. A broader carbon credit market is expected to change that, although many issues remain there to be resolved too, as highlighted in a report by the Centre for Science and Environment, and covered by our sister site IamRenew here.