Study Regarding Accounting Treatment of Green Certificates in Romania

Accounting regulations approved through Order 1802/2014 makes remarks regarding the reflection of green certificates in accounting. Green certificates are titles that attest the production of a quantity of electrical energy from renewable sources. These can be traded distinctly from the amount of electrical energy that they represent. A.N.R.E. (National Agency of Energy Regulation) rewards producers of renewable electricity to benefit the promotion of sustainable energy through green certificates. Electricity providers and some producers are required to purchase a number of green certificates on a quarterly basis. They are then required to transmit to the National Agency of Energy Regulation, in the specified format and by the deadline set by them, the quantities of electrical energy for which they need to purchase green certificates, in conformity with law 220/2008. The cost of green certificates is billed separately from the price of electric energy inaccounting tratament the invoice sent to the final customers. Providers or producers that do not meet the yearly quota must pay the value of green certificates not acquired in said timespan. According to the ministry’s of public finance Order 1802/2014, producers of renewable energy, that benefit from green certificates provided by the transport and system operator must register the green certificates received into their accountings using specific accounting accounts

Evolution of Hydropower Support Schemes in Poland and Their Assessment Using the LCOE Method

Hydropower as stable power installations play an important role among renewable energy sources. Yet, their share in renewable energy is small. Currently, it is only 10% of energy from renewable energy sources (RES), compared to 27% in 2010. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to assess the RES support schemes in Poland related to hydropower, such as green certificates, auctions and FIT, with the use of the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) analysis in order to determine which support scheme is best incentivizing hydropower development. The evolution of the hydropower support scheme in Poland is presented. The total LCOE and possible revenues from support systems for various segments of hydropower installations are graphically analyzed for two analysis periods (15 and 50 years) and for two discount rates (7% and 11.4%). The analysis shows the great importance of the support schemes in the profitability of the hydropower plants investments. The LCOE graphical analysis proves to be suitable for showing sensitivity analysis of capital and operating costs of various sizes of hydropower plants. The analysis shows that the LCOE in micro-power plants is usually higher than the support and revenues available in the green certificates or auctions or FIT schemes in Poland.

Low-Carbon Economic Dispatch Based on a CCPP-P2G Virtual Power Plant Considering Carbon Trading and Green Certificates

To improve the economic benefits of power systems in the process of achieving multi-energy complementation and decarbonization, this paper proposes a dispatching optimization model for virtual power plants (VPP) that considers carbon trading and green certificates. Firstly, the structure of the VPP system integrating wind and solar generators (WP and PV), power-to-gas (P2G), carbon capture power plants (CCPP) and price-based demand response (PBDR) is established. Secondly, the two-way interactive trading models among the VPP, carbon trading and green certification market are constructed. Then, the dispatching optimization model of the VPP is constructed. Finally, the numerical example is solved and analyzed by the chaotic particle swarm optimization algorithm, which verifies the rationality and effectiveness of the new model. The results show that: (1) when the VPP considers the CCPP-P2G, the cost of the system is reduced by USD 2550.48, while the CO2 emissions are reduced by nearly 50%; (2) the addition of PBDR reduces the CO2 emissions of the thermal power unit, which has reduced the cost of carbon tax by nearly 27.8%, further reducing the cost of the VPP; (3) the introduction of the carbon trading and green certificate market has reduced the operating cost of the VPP by nearly 22.24%.

EU COVID-19 Certificates: A Critical Analysis

On 17 March 2021, the European Commission put forward its Proposal for a Regulation on Digital Green Certificates, which would facilitate European Union (EU) cross-border movement during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Regulation on the EU Digital COVID Certificate was adopted on 14 June 2021 and it will start to apply from 1 July 2021. This article examines the main declared goals of the new Regulation – the first being that Digital COVID Certificates facilitate safe cross-border movement, the second being that they preclude more restrictive national measures, the third being that they prevent discrimination and the fourth being that they coordinate Member States’ actions. In so doing, it highlights the main benefits and weaknesses of the Regulation, but it also goes beyond the Regulation by tackling broader questions of EU law that will be of relevance even once the pandemic is over. In this respect, the paper highlights the importance of science in assessing the proportionality of pandemic-related measures and of choosing the least restrictive and the most individualised options when restricting free movement due to public health reasons. It also identifies the effects EU certificates will have on Member States’ regulation of national COVID-19 certificates, notably those designed for other purposes than cross-border travel, and it shows that there is a thin line between the EU’s and national competences in this area.

Policy Impact on Regional Biogas Using a Modular Modeling Tool

Biogas development is expected to contribute to the National Recovery and Resilience plan to overcome the COVID-19 shock. Estimation of the agricultural biogas potential in economic terms can contribute to refining policies inciting effective sector development. In this paper, we attempt to do so by modeling a biogas chain from dedicated crops and livestock waste. This was achieved by coupling farming models to the biogas industry in a partial equilibrium framework. This allows for a comprehensive investigation of alternative measures in technology, size, spatial distribution and land use change. The integrated model was implemented in Lubelskie for the previous policy (green certificates) and the current policy (auction market). In both cases, the bottom-up profit driven optimization resulted in approximately 40 MWel, which shows a robust economic potential more than four times the biogas sector’s actual capacity in the region, also providing the detailed structure of the sector. When focusing on the industry structure, both scenarios give similar results regarding 1–2 MWel plant size close to the observed situation. The model also suggests a large number of new facilities <250 kWel, twice as important under scenario 2, indicating that other conditions beyond economy profitability should be fulfilled for further sector development.

Analysis of Financial Problems of Wind Farms in Poland

Wind energy has been operating in Poland for over 20 years, but many opinions on its profitability are based on publications from other countries and simulations prepared by manufacturers. However, the truth is that the climatic specificity of various countries and price relationships, especially energy prices and subsidies, significantly differentiate this profitability depending on the country. The publication aimed to look at the profitability of wind farms in Poland from three perspectives: financial analysis, NPV (Net Present Value) calculation for older wind farms (2006–2014), and break-even price of energy for these farms (for a non-negative NPV). The research hypothesis set out in the publication stated that wind farms from this period require higher energy prices than current market prices in Poland to achieve a return on invested capital. An element of novelty was calculating the energy price range that would provide an opportunity for at least some of the older farms operating in the green certificates scheme to achieve a positive NPV. We also attempted to demonstrate that the loss of control over the prices of green certificates, which took place in 2014–2017, led to such a decrease in energy prices that the 2006–2014 wind farms suffered a net loss.