At this week's RECs Market Meeting the Gold Standard Foundation announced the launch of their new renewable energy product label. In August 2017 Gold Standard, in partnership with the I-RECs Standard, will be launching a new Renewable Energy Product Label scheme alongside its new standard, Gold Standard for the Global Goals. South Pole Group welcomes and supports this development, as it combines the strengths of two leading product standards and confirms that the visionary path the company took nearly 8 years ago was right.
GoldPower launched in 2009 as a pioneering renewable energy product. It provided a tool for sourcing the highest quality of renewable energy, allowing companies to apply the same stringent quality criteria across various regions. For monitoring, issuing, tracking and cancelling/retiring, but also for 3rd party auditing, GoldPower utilised the best suitable instruments that were available at that time - the ones that the global carbon emission reduction market provided.
Six years later other tracking systems have evolved that were purposefully built for international Renewable Energy Certificate tracking and are strongly rooted in renewable energy markets, such as the I-RECs Standard. Furthermore, this year the Gold Standard announced the 3rd version of its standard, called the Golds Standard for the Global Goals (GS4GG), which includes distinct Activity Requirements and Product Specifications focussing on renewable energy solutions. These are specially designed to accommodate the labelling of renewable energy certificates (RECs). So now that the market mechanisms have caught up with the pioneering idea of GoldPower, it is time to combine the best of two worlds and base GoldPower on REC tracking systems and the latest version of the Gold Standard.
So what is new? What will remain the same?
GoldPower will continue to be the quality-assured, transparent and leading product for businesses who want to demonstrate their commitment to a sustainable energy future. With the launch of the new Gold Standard Renewable Energy Product Label (expected in August 2017), GoldPower projects will be registered with the I-REC standard, allowing for the issuance of GS-labelled I-RECs. Thus the underlying unit in which GoldPower is transacted will be Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs, measured in MWh).
This corresponds with the Scope 2 Guidance of the World Resource Institute (WRI) to which all major environmental reporting frameworks refer.
What remains the same?
South Pole Group continues to offer its clients the highest quality in renewable energy solutions. GoldPower continues to be based on the same strong foundation that the Gold Standard has set forth, endorsed by WWF. Every Gold Standard power plant generates true impact, social and environmental considerations and improves the wellbeing of local communities. Aside from producing clean energy, all plants ensure that, for instance, local high-quality jobs are created, biodiversity is enhanced, and local economies get empowered. Another core value of the Gold Standard is its claim of true additionality: very purchase of GoldPower generates substantial income for that very wind farm, solar plant or other type of Renewable Energy generation, from which the renewable attributes are bought.
This claim of additionality is the most tangible, transparent and robust form there is in the REC market. Purchasing Gold Power means creating a tangible positive impact not only for a low-carbon economy, but also for social and environmental prosperity at the project location.
Stay tuned for further updates on GoldPower. If you have particular questions regarding this product, please reach out to you South Pole Group contact person or write to recs@thesouthpolegroup.com
Download the full Thought Leadership Paper by the Gold Standard here, and learn more about GoldPower on the GoldPower website.
