Glossary
Account
A record of the Certificates held on a Registry by a company or individual.
Account Holder
The person in respect of whom an Account is maintained on a GC Registry.
Attribute
A data item on a Certificate specifying the characteristics of an energy unit produced by a Production Device in terms of the input(s) used and/or the details of that Production Device and production process.
Avoided Emissions
Emission reductions that occur outside a product’s life cycle or value chain, but as a result of the use of that product.
Beneficiary
The person (usually the consumer) that ultimately benefits from EAC/GC Cancellation.
Bidding Zone
The largest geographical area within which market participants are able to exchange energy without capacity allocation. For example, Bidding Zones in Europe are currently defined according to differing criteria. While the majority are defined by national borders (e.g. France or the Netherlands), some are larger than national borders (e.g. Austria, Germany and Luxembourg or the Single Electricity Market for the island of Ireland), while others are smaller zones within individual countries (e.g., Italy, Norway or Sweden). In the US, Bidding Zones are analogous to market zones where the locational marginal price is the same (e.g. NYISO-Zone D in NYISO).
Cancel
To remove a Certificate from an Account, either
as proof of the Attributes (source, production time, etc.), to prevent it from being used again for this purpose, and to prevent it from being Transferred to another Account, or
to Reserve it for transitioning into another Certificate system.
Note: where Cancellation of Certificates relates to claims of the Attributes of supplied energy, In Europe, the term Cancellation for Disclosure is used, while in the US “Retire” is normally used, while the I-REC Standard uses “Redeem.
Cancellation Statement
A non-transferable or printed receipt for providing evidence of the Attributes at the time of Cancellation of Certificates acquired by an Account Holder.
Certificate
A record or guarantee (in any form, including an electronic form) in relation to the Attributes of the energy consumed, and/or the method and quality used, in the production of a quantity of energy.
Claim Verifier (or GC Claim Verifier)
An organization checking that Granular Certificates (GCs) are Canceled against the energy consumption measured at one or a group of multiple Consumption Points in compliance with the Matching rules in this Standard and the guidelines in the GC Use Case Guidelines.
Config3 GC Issuer
A GC Issuer who issues GCs within the restrictions of Configuration #3 as set out in 1.2 Scheme Configurations.
Consumer
The final beneficiary of GC/EAC Cancellation and potentially the user of associated consumed energy.
Consumption Point
Location of energy consumption. For the electricity Energy Carrier, the Consumption Point is a separately measured grid access point at which electricity is consumed.
Consumption Verification Area
The geographic area or market sector containing the Consumption Points for which a Claim Verifier has responsibility for verifying that Granular Certificates (GCs) have been Canceled against consumption.
Delegated GC Administrator
Entity, approved by EnergyTag, to which the GC Issuer may delegate the responsibility to administer GCs and the registration of the GC ownership throughout their lifetime.
Disclosure
Provision of information regarding a quantity of consumed or supplied energy as having specific Attributes.
Domain
The geographic area and/or market sector containing the Production Devices for which an EAC Issuing Body and/or a GC Issuer has responsibility for a Certificate system.
Double Counting
See detailed definition in 1.2 Scheme Configurations.
EAC Issuing Body
An organization responsible for the administration of the existing EAC Scheme within a Domain for an Energy Carrier, that operates regardless of any interrelationship with PECA.
EAC Consumption Verifier
A party charged with the responsibility of verifying that the correct amount and type of EACs are adequately Canceled for claims of the Attributes of consumed/supplied energy in a specific Domain. Such parties may be assigned by a government, the consumer or any other stakeholder.
EAC Scheme
The arrangements for the creation, administration, and usage of Energy Attribute Certificates.
e-Fuel
Fuels that are made by storing energy from renewable sources in the form of liquid or gaseous fuels.
Emission Factor
A unique value for determining an amount of a greenhouse gas emitted for a given quantity of activity (e.g. metric tons of carbon dioxide emitted per barrel of fossil fuel burned).
Energy Attribute Certificate (EAC)
A generic term for a unique Transferable electronic record or guarantee created to provide to a consumer evidence of the characteristics of a specific unit of energy conveyed by an Energy Carrier which may include the method and quality of its production. Examples include Guarantees of Origin (GO), Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), and Emission Free Energy Certificates (EFECs).
Energy Carrier
Means of conveying energy – this can be electricity, gas, hydrogen, or heating/cooling.
EnergyTag
The organization that administers the EnergyTag Standard: EnergyTag Ltd being a non-profit entity registered in the United Kingdom.
Expire
To make a Certificate ineligible for Transfer or Cancellation as a consequence of the passage of a given period of time since the production of the associated energy.
Export
Transfer of Certificates from an Account Holder in one Registry to an Account Holder in another Registry. Consequently, the Attributes of the energy represented by the respective Certificates are no longer in the Exporting Registry and are uniquely represented in the receiving Registry.
Face Value
Specific quantity of energy production represented by a certificate.
Geographical Matching (or GC Geographical Matching)
Associating the geographical location of energy production or storage which has been recorded on a GC at its Issuance, with the geographical location of energy consumption and for which the GC is Canceled. For example, Geographical Matching may take place within physically interconnected zone(s) or Bidding Zone(s).
Geographical Matching Granularity Level
The three levels of Geographical Matching granularity, starting with the highest level of granularity moving to the lowest:
Single Bidding Zone Level,
Aggregated Bidding Zone Level,
Interconnected Zone Level.
GC Matcher (or GCConsumption Matcher) (or Matcher)
An organization who matches the Attributes of Canceled GCs to a specific quantity of energy consumption of a specific Consumer/Supplier, with a view to determine the content of a GC Matching Claim.
GC Matching (or Granular Matching or Matching)
Allocating Attributes of Canceled GCs to a corresponding quantity of consumed energy, for well-specified Matching Features.
GC Matching Claim (or Matching Claim)
A statement by a Consumer or Supplier of energy regarding the proportion of their consumption being matched to GCs, and the resulting Attributes allocated to this consumption.
GC Scheme Protocol
A document that sets out all procedures and liabilities in relation with the operation of a GC Scheme.
Granular Certificate (GC)
A Granular Certificate compliant with EnergyTag is a Certificate relating to the Attributes of energy produced during a period of one hour or less, Issued in compliance with the requirements and rules of operation of the EnergyTag GC Scheme Standard.
Granular Certificate Consumer
An energy consumer, a supply company or any other party on their behalf, for whom GCs are Canceled to prove the Attributes of their energy consumption.
Granular Certificate Issuer (GC Issuer)
A Granular Certificate Issuer is an organization responsible for the administration of the Granular Certificates within a Domain for an Energy Carrier, ensuring the avoidance of Double Counting of the Attributes represented by the Granular Certificates it administers throughout their lifetime.
Granular Certificate Platform
A software service which maintains and/or accesses a GC Registry to provide GC market enabling services such as inventory management, consumption matching or trading.
Granular Certificate Platform Operator
A person responsible for administering a GC Platform.
Granular Certificate Scheme (GC Scheme)
The arrangements for the creation, administration, and usage of Granular Certificates.
Granular Certificate Validity Period
The period of time, ex-post, in which participants may buy, Cancel and make claims using GCs.
Guidelines
Refers to the EnergyTag GC Use Case Guidelines.
Import
Receipt of Certificates by an Account Holder in one Registry from an Account Holder in another Registry. Consequently, the Attributes of the energy represented by the respective Certificates are in the Importing Registry and no longer in the Exporting Registry.
Issue / Issuance
The process of creating a GC/EAC as a record on a Registry.
Market Zone
A set of geographical zones and/or virtual zones often having the same zonal electricity price. This could be a single bidding/price zone or potentially an aggregation of contiguous bidding zones.
Matcher (or GCConsumption Matcher)
See GC-Consumption Matcher.
Matching
See GC Matching or Granular Matching.
Matching Framework
A set of parameters for the various Matching Features as laid out in 1.2 Matching GCs with Energy Consumption of the GC Matching Standard.
Measurement Body
An organization responsible for measuring the energy produced by or input to a Production Device, and/or the energy consumed at a Consumption Point.
Price Node
Location identifier in a wholesale electricity price formation mechanism in which the price paid in a particular zone is calculated by the zone’s physical node. The Price Node can be an actual location where transmission lines converge, or it could simply mean the last point in the grid where supply and demand are balanced; this is typically at the consumer level.
Producer
The owner of a Production Device which is valid for GC Issuance.
Product Verifier (PV)
An optional Role (similar to a Claim Verifier) describing an organization that verifies products based on Granular Certificates.
Production Device
Separately measured facility for Transferring energy from a primary energy source into an Energy Carrier or from one Energy Carrier to another – for instance, a power station or a gasifier.
Production Granular Certificate
A GC Issued directly to a Production Device as opposed to a Storage Discharge GC.
Production Registrar
An organization responsible for assessing applications to register Production Devices for the purposes of issuing the relevant Certificates, reporting to the Issuer.
Power-to-X / PtX
The term is used to describe applications where electricity is converted into another energy form/carrier, X being Hydrogen, Steam or an e-Fuel.
Redeem
(I-REC term - in Europe “Cancel” is normally used, while in the USA “Retire” is used). See definition of “Cancel”.
Registry / GC Registry / EAC Registry
A database administered by an EAC Issuing Body or GC Issuer, recording the characteristics of the Production Devices for which that Issuing Body or GC Issuer is responsible, and the Accounts and the Certificates held in such Accounts.
Reserve
Certificate disposition without claiming the represented Attributes. The result is that the Certificates end their life in a Reserved status. A Reserve transaction has the objective of transitioning the respective Certificates into another Certificate system. Reserved Certificates cannot be unreserved, or transfered.
Reservoir
Refers to the Storage System’s inventory of records at time “i” resulting from record charging that are available for allocation to Storage Discharge Records. This mechanism is needed to record the information of the SDRs that are used to prove the Attributes of the energy input into storage.
Residual Mix
The (sub)hourly or temporal Residual Mix (RM) is the mix of Attributes for energy consumption that is not covered by Canceled Granular Certificates or other EACs.
Retire
(US term - in Europe “Cancel” is normally used, while I-REC uses “Redeem”). See definition of “Cancel”.
Role
A liable entity in a GC Scheme.
Round Trip Efficiency
The ratio of the net total output energy in the discharging process to the net total input energy in the charging process.
Standard
Refers to the EnergyTag GC Scheme Standard.
Storage Charge Record (SCR)
Registry record of energy charged to storage in a time interval.
Storage Efficiency Factor or Efficiency Factor
Factor that quantifies storage losses based on round-trip efficiency, being the efficiency of a full cycle of charging and discharging.
Storage System (or Energy Storage System)
Separately measured system for storing energy where the energy carrier of the input into storage is of the same type as the energy carrier for the output of storage.
Storage Discharge Record (SDR)
Registry record of energy discharged from storage in a time interval.
Storage Discharge Granular Certificate (SDGC)
A GC Issued following Storage discharge in compliance with all necessary requirements in both the Standard and Guidelines.
Temporal Matching (or GC Temporal Matching)
Associating the period of time during which energy is produced or stored and which has been recorded on the GC at its Issuance with the corresponding time at which the GC is Canceled and the energy is consumed. The time interval is equal to or less than 60 minutes and evidence of energy production and consumption is provided by GCs.
Timestamp
The date and time when an event happened in the format (UTC “YYYY-MMDDThh: mm:ssZ” e.g. “2023-10-03T00:00:00Z”).
Transfer
The handover of a Certificate from one Account to another, whether on the same or on another Registry.
Use Case
A scenario of a possible usage of GCs.
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