CRCF Electricity Use Accounting

This Module is developed for issuing Credits under the EU Carbon Removal and Carbon Farming (CRCF) framework established by EU Regulation 2024/3012.

This Module contains the relevant additional Isometric requirements from our Energy Use Accounting Module v1.3. Any Isometric requirements entirely satisfied by the CRCF Delegated Act Annex methodologies are omitted. Those partially satisfied have been reformulated to build on the framework from the CRCF Delegated Act Annex methodologies.

Life cycle emissions associated with electricity produced by behind-the-meter generators and used by the Activity must be quantified. If the electricity produced by the generator is used solely by the Activity, the generator must be fully considered as part of The Activity's system boundary.

Activities utilising electricity from generators that meet both of the following criteria must also account for energy leakage if the following are true:

• Generator was in operation for more than 36 months before The Activity was initiated; and
• The generator supplies electricity to the local electricity grid.

Energy leakage represents the indirect greenhouse gas emissions arising when a Activity consumes electricity that would otherwise have been supplied to the grid, or when a Activity creates a parasitic load that reduces the net electricity supplied to the grid. See Section 2.1.2.1 of the CRCF GHG Accounting Module for details on estimating energy leakage.

Consumed electricity is attributed an emission factor of zero only where it qualifies as "fully renewable". CRCF imports this qualification via paragraph 5 of Part A of the Annex to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1185, which defers to Article 27(3) of Directive (EU) 2018/2001. The operational criteria for "fully renewable" status are set in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1184, Article 4 of which establishes four mutually-alternative pathways.

Under this Module, only the pathway in Article 4(4) of 2023/1184 is admissible. Pathways in Article 4(1), 4(2), and 4(3) attribute renewable status to consumed electricity on the basis of grid-level proxies (bidding-zone renewables share, low-carbon intensity, or curtailment-absorption hours) rather than activity-specific procurement of additional renewable generation. For carbon removal, where each credited tonne must reflect a real net atmospheric outcome, only the activity-level additionality test in Article 4(4)'s pathway gives the assurance that the Activity's consumption is supplied by renewable generation that would not otherwise have existed.

Fully renewable electricity must meet all Eligibility Criteria EC1-EC5 in Table 1.

Table 1: Eligibility Criteria - Documentation required for Fully Renewable Electricity

The following calculation approach must be used for annual electricity emissions calculations:

$$GHG_{Elec} = EF_{grid} \left[ \left( \sum Q_{elec} \right) - \left( \sum G_p \right) \right] + \sum EF_p G_p$$

(Equation 1)

Where:

• $GHG_{Elec}$: the total GHG emissions associated with electricity usage for the certification period, in tonnes of CO₂e.
• $EF_{grid}$: grid average emissions factor, in tonnes of CO₂e/kWh. Details of requirements for acceptable emissions factors can be found in Section 4.1.
• $Q_{Elec}$: net quantity of electricity consumed in the certification period, in kWh.
• $G_p$: total amount of energy procured for in the certification period by generator type $p$, in kWh. Note that in the calculation outlined above, the amount of procured electricity may not exceed the amount of electricity consumption by The Activity for the certification period.
• $EF_p$: emissions factor for generation by generator type $p$, in tonnes of CO₂e/kWh.

The following calculation approach must be used for hourly electricity emissions calculations:

$$GHG_{Elec} = EF_{grid} \sum_{i=1}^N \left( Q_{Elec,i} - \sum_p G_{p,i} \right) + \sum_p \left( EF_p \sum_{i=1}^N G_{p,i} \right)$$

(Equation 2)

Where:

• $GHG_{Elec}$: the total GHG emissions associated with electricity usage for the certification period, in tonnes of CO₂e.
• $EF_{grid}$: grid average emissions factor, in tonnes of CO₂e/kWh. Details of requirements for acceptable emissions factors can be found in Section 4.1.
• $Q_{Elec,i}$: electricity usage in hour $i$, in kWh.
• $N$: total number of calendar hours for the certification period.
• $G_{p,i}$: amount of energy procured in hour $i$ by generator type $p$, in kWh. Note that in the calculation outlined above, the amount of procured energy in hour $i$ may not exceed the amount of electricity consumption by The Activity in hour $i$.
• $EF_p$: emissions factor for generation by generator type $p$, in tonnes of CO₂e/kWh.

$EF_{grid}$ - emissions factors used must:

• Be technology-specific to the mix of electricity generation methods in the connected electric grid;
• Be reported on a residual-mix basis, meaning that any generators within a grid region which are subject to contract purchase (e.g., through Guarantees of Origins) are excluded from the average emissions calculation. Operators must declare whether such data is available in the region of operation, and utilise such data wherever possible. Where residual mix factors are not available, national grid average factors are considered acceptable.
• Where available, be reported on a consumption basis, meaning that all net physical energy imports/exports across the grid boundary should be reflected;
• Account for the full life cycle emissions associated with electricity generation, including direct emissions from power generation, transmission and distribution losses, and upstream life cycle emissions associated with extraction, refining and transportation of primary fuels (i.e., from cradle-to-gate).

$EF_p$ - emissions factors used must:

• Be technology-specific to the method of electricity generation;
• Account for all capital emissions associated with the establishment of procured generators by amortising on a per unit electricity generation basis. If capital emissions are not included within the used emissions factor, then they must be calculated separately and allocated to The Activity on a proportional basis relative to the usage of the generating asset over its anticipated lifetime and generation capacity;
• Account for the full life cycle emissions associated with electricity generation and include direct emissions from power generation (i.e., fuel combustion), upstream emissions associated with fuel production, equipment manufacture, and equipment decommissioning and disposal at a minimum;
• Account for any necessary derating factors associated with energy loss during transmission between the generating facility and The Activity. Where derating factors are not applied in the utilised emissions factors, The Operator must additionally account for these. For example, derating factors for transmission losses may be estimated using the approach of Sadovskaia et al. (2019)¹, or any other suitably justified method.

1. https:doi.org/10.1016/j.ijepes.2018.11.012 ↩