Zug, Switzerland and Sausalito, Calif. — 19 May 2021 — Today, Energy Web and Energy Peace Partners (EPP) announced a new partnership to develop a digital marketplace platform to accelerate the development of renewable energy projects in fragile, energy-poor countries. EPP leverages climate finance solutions to promote peace and development by extending the renewable energy revolution to some of the planet’s most vulnerable populations. EPP developed the Peace Renewable Energy Credit (P-REC), which certifies the social co-benefits of renewable energy in addition to renewables’ traditional environmental benefits.
An energy attribute certificate (EAC) — including renewable energy certificates (RECs) in the United States and guarantees of origin (GOs) in the EU — is an internationally-traded virtual commodity that represents 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of renewable energy generated. P-RECs are issued under the I-REC Standard, the EAC standard in 40+ developing countries, and are issued as I-RECs with additional social co-benefits from new projects in fragile, energy-poor regions. To date, EPP has been authorized as the country issuer of P-RECs and I-RECs in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan. The first-ever P-REC transaction occurred in the DRC in 2020 through a groundbreaking collaboration between Microsoft, Nuru, 3Degrees (an Energy Web member), and EPP.
The digital marketplace platform will leverage the Energy Web Origin open-source software development toolkit, harmonize with The IREC Standard, and be prepared to integrate with Energy Web Zero, an application to find and digitally source verified, emissions-free renewable energy globally. Simply put, the platform will lead to the development of a digital P-REC purchase option for renewable energy buyers, including individuals, that want to support the development of high-impact renewable energy projects for communities where these projects are installed.
The platform will help EPP market P-REC projects, increase demand among a wider set of corporate and individual buyers, scale up the global P-REC market, and facilitate P-REC transactions in a streamlined way. For Energy Web, this partnership will generate new open-source functionality for EW Origin to support digitized EAC “forward agreements” that enable buyers to easily commit to supporting additional renewable energy facilities, which in turn helps reduce the upfront costs of new facilities and improve financing terms.
“This is an incredibly exciting partnership and project,” said Sherwin Das, Managing Director of EPP. “Together we’re bringing a cutting-edge, digital solution that will contribute to scaling up the market for P-RECs and, in doing so, unlock more renewable energy investment in high-impact projects around the world.
“We’re proud to partner with EPP on this renewables marketplace,” added Doug Miller, global markets lead for Energy Web. “This partnership represents Energy Web’s first engagement with projects in Africa and a breakthrough opportunity to introduce digital tools that make it easy for local communities to attract renewable energy buyers who can help expand clean energy access and related social co-benefits in a frictionless way. This partnership will also result in a new standardized digital approach to renewable energy forward agreements that we think will serve as an attractive product for renewable energy buyers that want to support additional products outside of Africa, yet are simpler to implement than power purchase agreements, especially in regulated markets like most I-REC markets.”
Both EPP and I-REC Standard are also advisors to EW Zero, which in December received a grant from the Good Energies Foundation to commercialize the platform. For the EPP P-REC marketplace, the joint team expects to complete an initial proof of concept (POC) by the end of 2021.
About Energy Web
Energy Web is a global, member-driven nonprofit accelerating the low-carbon, customer-centric energy transition by unleashing the potential of open-source, digital technologies. We enable any energy asset, owned by any customer, to participate in any energy market. The Energy Web Chain — the world’s first enterprise-grade, public blockchain tailored to the energy sector — anchors our tech stack. The Energy Web ecosystem comprises leading utilities, grid operators, renewable energy developers, corporate energy buyers, IoT / telecom leaders, and others.
About Energy Peace Partners
The mission of Energy Peace Partners (EPP) is peace and stability for all, powered by renewable energy. EPP brings together expertise in international peacebuilding and renewable energy in order to leverage climate finance solutions that support peace in places affected by violent conflict. We believe that a paradigm shift toward climate-sensitive development can deliver enduring benefits to the planet’s most vulnerable populations. Our efforts create an enabling environment for introducing renewable energy that can serve as the building blocks for peace.