Wind renewable energy- Green Powert

Ramesh, is the wind turbine onsite, or offsite? If it is onsite, then use EAc2. If it is offsite, how far away is it?

Ramesh, you would need to show that the turbine meets the equivalent of Green-e standards, as the credit language requires.

Ramesh, you must also be sure that you are retaining the RECs. While it's more common with solar installations, many PPA providers receive the RECs as part of the agreement. In that situation, the facility will not own any claims to green power usage required for LEED points.

I would guess that the Indian market does not deal in RECs. Establishing Green-e equivalency will be difficult. I would suggest you check with the India GBC to see how credit equivalency has been determined there. The India GBC LEED NC version is pretty vague about the qualities of the green power source. If it is 100% wind and it is a new renewable source (post 1997 I think) it should qualify.

Marcus, there have been some very recent developments in India that I thought I would share as there appears to be nascent REC market developing.

At the end of 2010 India’s regulator mandated a 6% renewable energy percentage (similar to a US RPS) from alternative energy, up from a current rate of 4% and rising to 15% by 2020. A REC policy was also launched to support these targets by creating a market linked mechanism allowing green energy generators to earn an additional tariff over and above wholesale the electricity price. As was the case in the early days of the US REC market, the primary use for RECs in India is to serve as a compliance tracking tool for power generators that are covered under the mandate i.e. power generators will trade the RECs with each other.

We do not see the practice of non-regulated firms purchasing Indian RECs on a voluntary basis (as many do in the US for LEED, Green Power Partnership etc.) in the near term as (1) the stretching renewable targets will make compliance RECs very expensive and (2) the practice of voluntary purchases tends to occur once REC markets are mature and the instrument widely accepted and understood.

Near term, the best approach to pursuing green power credits utilizing ‘local’ renewable energy projects in India is to use carbon offsets generated from a renewable energy projects that can demonstrate Green-e equivalency. This approach has been utilized as an alternative compliance path on a growing number of LEED projects – especially international projects that desire to support renewable energy ‘closer to home’ rather than through the US based REC market. We have an extensive portfolio of renewable energy offset projects in India and around the world that can demonstrate Green-e equivalency.

My client would like to pursue green power credits utilizing local renewable energy projects here in the Philippines which have not yet demonstrated Green-e equivalency. What do you think is the best approach or an alternative compliance path to achieve EAc6?

In general you need to demonstrate Green-e equivalency for the green power you intend to purchase. That issue has been previously addressed in this forum.