REGOs – what are they and how can you claim?

Those with on-site sources of renewable energy risk missing out on a source of income unless action is taken soon.

Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO) certificates have been available for those generating renewable energy since 2001. They can be claimed and passed on to licensed energy suppliers to enable them to meet their green energy production credentials but, until recently, have held little importance.

One of the consequences of Brexit is that European and UK REGOs are no longer interchangeable and, as a result, the value of UK REGOs has risen significantly in recent months, with the market price for solar PV, for example, rising from £3 per Mwh in May 2022 to over £13 this month. So, a 50Kwh rooftop system could claim annually about 50 REGOs, currently worth about £650.

Since the certificates are based on generation, not export, even a site which uses much of the power generated can still claim.

The REGO year ends on 31 March and sales for that year need to be completed by the end of May. There are several hoops to jump through:

• You need to be registered. This may well have been done by the installer when the system was commissioned, but if not, it can be done through the OFGEM portal (although a new registration may take a few weeks).
• If power is being exported, under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), this may cover some or all of the REGOs, in which case, it should appear on the monthly statement.
• The REGOs need to be claimed. Again, this is done through the OFGEM website on a monthly basis.
• Effectively, REGOs are only valid for the year of generation, so although the OFGEM website will allow you to claim for past generation, they have little value.
• Some supermarkets may require their farm suppliers to demonstrate their on-farm use of green energy by way of REGOs, in which case, those certificates cannot be sold.
• Once claimed, the units can be sold in the open market via intermediaries. In one recent case, 265 REGOs were sold for almost £3,500 with commission of £50.

This is a relatively new market, so there is no register of intermediaries, so ‘caveat emptor’ when it comes to choosing a broker to deal with the sale of any REGOs.

Need help?

If you’d like to discuss this in more detail, please get in touch with your usual Larking Gowen contact. You can find contact details in the Our People section of our website. Alternatively, call 0330 024 0888 or email enquiry@larking-gowen.co.uk.

Laurie Hill