From June, Russian companies will be able to offset their carbon footprint with energy produced at the Leningrad NPP.
Rosenergoatom (Electric Energy Division of ROSATOM) has passed certification for inclusion in the register of low-carbon generating facilities and received the right to sell “green” attributes of electricity – atomic certificates.
The first nuclear power plant to receive a conclusion from the independent Center for Energy Certification (CEC), confirming that the generated electricity is produced using clean, low-carbon sources, was the Leningrad NPP (Sosnovy Bor, Leningrad Region, a branch of Rosenergoatom). Independent experts from the CEC conducted an audit of the nuclear power plant site, and already in June of this year, Russian companies will be able to offset their carbon footprint with clean nuclear energy produced at the Leningrad NPP.
In the near future, two more Russian nuclear power plants will undergo the same qualification – Kalininskaya NPP (Udomlya, Tver Region) and Balakovo NPP (Balakovo, Saratov Region).
“The choice of these three nuclear power plants for registration in the national register was motivated by several factors”, noted Alexander Khvalko, Deputy Director General – Sales Director of RosEnergoAtom, “Firstly, we already have contracts for these sites for the supply of clean energy to offset the carbon footprint. Secondly, partners are interested in these particular NPPs – they have large power and branched networks and are located in regions with high energy consumption. Now these three stations can fully cover the market demand, but if it grows, then we are ready to qualify other NPPs”.
The total installed capacity of NPPs in the register will be 9 GW, and the monthly generation, which can be confirmed and purchased by companies in the form of certificates and/or free contracts, will be about 1.5 billion kWh.
At the national level, nuclear power plants were already recognized as low-carbon sources of electricity generation on a par with wind, hydro and solar power in August 2023. On February 1, 2024, a voluntary certification system began operating in Russia, and a market for attributes confirming that the electricity consumed by a company is low-carbon began to form.
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The system for circulation of generation attributes and certificates began to function on February 1, 2024. The rules for keeping the register are determined by the supervisory board of the Association “NP Market Council”. The energy certificate of origin is not tied to the physical supply of electricity. This is an energy attribute certificate confirming that 1 kilowatt-hour of electricity was generated from renewable energy sources (RES).
ROSATOM is the largest producer of low-carbon electric energy in Russia providing about 20% of the total quantity of electricity generated in the country. Today, Rosatom has transformed into a conveyor of atomic technologies, which allows Russia to occupy a leading position in the world. Rosatom has resources and competencies to successfully operate at all levels of the nuclear energy production chain. The atomic technologies development road map is laid out for a century ahead.
In February 2024, JSC VetroOGK and JSC Atomenergopromsbyt (part of the wind energy division of ROSATOM) joined the National System of the Register of Generation Attributes and Certificates of Origin of Electricity. Atomenergopromsbyt will act as a trader (agent), purchasing and redeeming certificates for its clients.