A Comparison of Strategies for Tackling Corporate Scope II Carbon Emissions, published by Tabors Caramanis Rudkevich
The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive, comparative study covering a variety of factors impacting the cost and implementation of corporate clean energy procurement strategies.
Global climate change has pushed carbon emissions to the forefront of public scrutiny and scientific inquiry. Striving to reduce their net carbon footprint, large energy consumers have increasingly turned to renewable energy resources. These energy consumers have pioneered different approaches toward clean energy procurement, such as the RE100 initiative, Google’s 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy, Microsoft’s 100/100/0 vision, and the Emissions First partnership led by Meta and Amazon. This white paper examines different clean energy procurement strategies in terms of overall cost and effectiveness in carbon emissions reduction.
Using locational marginal emission rate (LMERs), we quantify the cost and carbon emissions impact of clean energy procurement strategies for corporate energy consumers with varying load shapes and within a variety of balancing authorities. We compare energy matching strategies against a strategy that directly accounts for carbon emissions, which we call carbon matching, for two different types of large electricity consumers in 5 different balancing authorities. Balancing authorities ranged from large ISO/RTOs (PJM and CAISO) to vertically integrated utility regions covering a regional (Duke Energy Carolinas) or municipal area (Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Portland General Electric).
The results show the following:
Carbon matching, a strategy that directly accounts for carbon emissions using LMERs and ensures that avoided emissions are equal or greater than emissions attributable to load, is more cost-effective than any of energy matching strategies analyzed;
Energy matching does not guarantee reaching carbon neutrality;
Localized energy matching decreases carbon displacement efficiency;
Local energy matching may not be practical in certain regions, which could deter participation;
Hourly energy matching is the least efficient strategy at displacing carbon emissions, and its cost varies greatly depending on location
If you’d like to learn more about REsurety’s Location Marginal Emissions (LMEs) offerings, please contact us.
“The LME data that REsurety provides enables Akamai to more closely calculate the estimated impact of our activities at each location on the grid.”
Akamai Technologies recently released their 2022 ESG Impact Report, highlighting their progress made in ESG focus areas. REsurety’s Locational Marginal Emissions (LME) data is featured and the report explains how LME data helped Akamai more accurately track their emissions abatement for projects. Read the full report here.
Read the excerpt below to learn more.
“Measuring emissions abatement on a global scale is challenging, mainly because the amount of carbon emissions avoided by a given megawatt-hour (MWh) of clean energy varies widely, even across projects within the same region. To address this, in 2022, we began using Locational Marginal Emissions (LMEs) from REsurety to try to more accurately track our emissions abatement in each project location.
Under the reporting provided by REsurety, LMEs are an innovative way to measure the tons of carbon emissions displaced by 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of clean energy added to the grid at a specific location at one particular point in time. LMEs are calculated at each power system node like the Locational Marginal Prices (LMPs) used to set wholesale electricity market prices. LMEs measure emissions by identifying the marginal generators that would have been producing energy if not for the renewable injection to the grid at that location.
The LME data that REsurety provides enables Akamai to more closely calculate the estimated impact of our activities at each location on the grid. LME reports also offer visibility into why emissions are what they are. For example, they show how much gas or coal is displaced or how much wind energy is curtailed due to our activities. These reports also provide insight that helps Akamai evaluate new market opportunities. Using LMEs ensures we focus on locations and technologies that can significantly impact our carbon emissions reduction efforts.”
“LME is an important tool in assessing individual projects because seemingly identical renewable energy projects can have drastically different impacts on avoided carbon emissions.”
CarbonCount is a decision tool that evaluates investments in U.S.-based renewable energy, energy efficiency, and climate resilience projects to determine how efficiently they reduce CO2 equivalent (CO2e) emissions per $1,000 of investment. CarbonCount produces a quantitative impact assessment for investments’ carbon avoidance by integrating forward-looking project assumptions, emissions factors, and capital investment.
This white paper explains why CarbonCount matters, why it’s being updated, the methodology behind it, and use cases. REsurety’s Locational Marginal Emissions (LME) data is also featured in the paper.
Learn more here, or download the full white paper below.
Today we’re announcing the availability of Locational Marginal Emissions (LMEs) data in REmap. With this launch, our customers can now analyze the market value of their renewable energy projects as well as the carbon impact, all in one platform.
When we spoke with clean energy buyers, investors, and advisors about their biggest challenges, we learned that they need a better way to co-optimize the economic and carbon emissions impacts of their investment or procurement decisions. The economics of renewable energy projects have long been driven by time and location: when and where each MWh is produced determines the market value of that generation. As carbon accounting evolves to be similarly granular, customers want a toolset to help evaluate emissions impacts with the same level of rigor.
REsurety’s Renewable Energy Market Analytics Platform (REmap) is a map-based web platform that allows users to visualize and access hourly generation and power market data across thousands of locations in U.S. markets. For the past several years it has been valued by customers for its speed, ease of use, and high-quality datasets. REsurety’s nodal LME data, which measures the carbon emissions impact of clean energy generation at each specific location and hour, previously existed as a standalone data solution. We’re excited to integrate LME data into REmap to provide customers with fast and easy access to LME data via the powerful web interface, and enhance the capabilities of the REmap platform.
Analyze emissions performance in the same manner you’re accustomed to for market performance. Compare the emissions of projects across or within ISOs at the hourly or monthly level.
What this means to customers:
For clean energy buyers: access to LME data in REmap is particularly valuable when developing a procurement strategy or analyzing request for proposal (RFP) submissions for a power purchase agreement (PPA). It identifies the projects with the greatest decarbonization potential or determines which ISOs or regions to prioritize based on potential emissions impact.
For climate positive investors: the ability to see the emissions impact of merger and acquisition (M&A) opportunities alongside project financial performance; enabling accurate analysis of avoided emissions per dollar invested.
For investment banks and corporate advisors: the capability to clearly visualize the emissions and power market data needed to win clients and help set and execute sustainability strategies.
Blair Allen has extensive experience in energy information services products that support both ends of energy market exposure, from the project development phase to managing merchant generation. Before joining REsurety, Mr. Allen worked at a large energy data and analytics company as the Chief of Staff to their Power business unit, helping to manage, develop, and grow the company’s global portfolio of electricity market products and services. Prior to that he worked as a Senior Market Analyst offering price and congestion forecasts to customers with physical or financial risk in Mid-continent ISO. At REsurety, Blair serves as the Director of Customer Success.
Blair holds a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Bucknell University, with a minor in Economics.
The Energy Storage Solutions Consortium will develop a first-of-its-kind methodology to quantify the greenhouse gas emissions benefits of stored energy usage.
Sept. 14, 2022 (Menlo Park, Calif.) – A group of leading organizations, including Meta, REsurety, Broad Reach Power and others, has announced the formation of the Energy Storage Solutions Consortium, a consortium to assess and maximize the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction potential of electricity storage technologies. The group’s goal is to create an open-source, third-party-verified methodology to quantify the GHG benefits of certain grid-connected energy storage projects, and to ultimately help add a tool for organizations to create credible progress toward their net zero emissions goals.
Once approved by the third-party Verra through the Verified Carbon Standard Program, the standard would be the first verified methodology to quantify the emissions benefits of large-scale energy storage facilities, and would provide valuable guidance such as when to deploy stored energy to deliver maximum emissions reduction benefits.
“At Meta, we are committed to accelerating the transition to the carbon-free grid of the future, and large-scale energy storage is a critical part of that transition. Having achieved 100% renewable energy for our global operations, we are now looking to help move the energy storage industry forward by addressing next-level challenges and opening pathways that will help drive high impact emissions reductions on the grid,” said Peter Freed, director of energy strategy at Meta. “We are excited to launch this consortium in partnership with these industry-leading organizations, who will bring diverse perspectives and experience to the development of a robust, transparent methodology.”
“We need to decarbonize the grid as quickly as possible, and to do that we need to maximize the emissions impacts of all grid-connected technologies – whether generation, load, hybrid or standalone storage,” says Adam Reeve, SVP of software solutions at REsurety. “Enabling this sort of decarbonizing activity is the exact reason why we invested in developing high-resolution Locational Marginal Emissions. Energy storage is a technology that has huge potential, and we’re delighted to partner with industry leaders in this forward-thinking and collaborative effort to develop a global standard for energy storage benefits.”
“Battery storage will play an increasingly important role in delivering reliable and affordable power to homes and businesses as we move toward a 100% renewable energy grid. As the leading utility-scale battery storage platform in the U.S., we’re looking forward to working with other industry leaders to be able to quantify the important GHG reduction benefits of large-scale energy storage facilities and help organizations take climate action,” says Paul Choi, EVP of origination at Broad Reach Power.
In order to calculate the GHG benefits of large-scale energy storage facilities, the consortium will leverage locational marginal emissions. This concept measures the tons of GHG emissions displaced through the charging and discharging of energy storage facilities on the grid at a specific location and point in time.
In addition to steering committee members Meta, REsurety and Broad Reach Power, the consortium includes a number of advisory committee members. These advisory members include leading technology companies, emissions data providers, investors, storage developers and service providers, and non-governmental organizations among others.
Members include: 3Degrees Group, Inc., Akamai Technologies, Clearloop, Equilibrium Energy, Fluence, General Motors, GlidePath Power Solutions, Habitat Energy, HASI, Jupiter Power, Longroad Energy, Marathon Capital, Microsoft, Primergy Solar, Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, RES Group, Rivian, Rowan Digital Infrastructure, Stem, Tabors Caramanis Rudkevich, TimberRock, UBS Asset Management, and WattTime.
The Energy Storage Solutions Consortium is also partnering with Perspectives Climate Group, the German consultancy dedicated to helping its clients achieve net zero GHG emissions and to developing practical solutions for accounting of emission reductions from innovative climate- friendly technologies.
About Meta Platforms, Inc. Meta builds technologies that help people connect, find communities and grow businesses. When Facebook launched in 2004, it changed the way people connect. Apps like Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp further empowered billions around the world. Now, Meta is moving beyond 2D screens toward immersive experiences like augmented and virtual reality to help build the next evolution in social technology. about.facebook.com
About REsurety REsurety is the leading analytics company empowering the clean energy economy. Operating at the intersection of weather, power markets and financial modeling, we enable the industry’s decision-makers to thrive through best-in-class value and risk intelligence, and the tools to act on it. For more information, visit www.resurety.com or follow REsurety on LinkedIn.
About Broad Reach Power Broad Reach Power is the leading utility-scale battery storage platform in the United States. Based in Houston, Broad Reach is backed by leading energy transition investors, EnCap Investments L.P., Apollo Global Management, Yorktown Partners and Mercuria Energy. The company owns a 21 GW portfolio of utility-scale battery storage and renewable power projects across the U.S., giving utilities, generators, and customers access to technological insight and tools for managing merchant power risk so they can better match supply and demand. For more information about the company, visit www.broadreachpower.com.
Microsoft, which operates a global network of datacenters for its cloud services, has a long-term vision that by 2030, 100% of its electricity consumption, 100% of the time, will be generated from zero-carbon sources. This “100/100/0” commitment recognizes not only the critical obligations Microsoft has as a major consumer of electricity, but also the opportunities that come with it, says Brian Janous, general manager of energy and renewables at Microsoft.
Microsoft, which operates a global network of datacenters for its cloud services, has a long-term vision that by 2030, 100% of its electricity consumption, 100% of the time, will be generated from zero-carbon sources. This “100/100/0” commitment recognizes not only the critical obligations Microsoft has as a major consumer of electricity, but also the opportunities that come with it, says Brian Janous, general manager of energy and renewables at Microsoft.
In the U.S., Microsoft has partnered with clean energy analytics company REsurety to help develop tools capable of calculating emissions at each node along an electric grid. First piloted in Texas, these measurements of Locational Marginal Emissions (LMEs) help companies trying to decarbonize better understand the sources of the power they use on a granular level, then measure the impact of clean energy use and adjust power practices accordingly.
REsurety’sDavid Luke Oates discusses how REsurety has developed improved carbon displacement metrics through locational marginal emissions (LME) measurement. The discussion included how LMEs can assist stakeholders in better assessing the impact of their energy storage projects. There is also a Q&A session at the end where some hard-hitting questions about LMEs are answered.
Locational Marginal Emissions (LMEs): A Force Multiplier for the Carbon Impact of Energy Program
During CEBA’s Solution Showcase, REsurety’s David Luke Oates defines LMEs and explains how you can maximize the impact of your clean energy procurements; Akamai’s Mike Mattera then shares Akamai’s innovative and ambitious approach to creating a more sustainable enterprise. There’s also a lively Q&A session at the end.
Please fill out the form below to access the recording of the session.
The most innovative companies worldwide choose Akamai to secure and deliver its digital experiences – helping billions of people live, work, and play every day. With the world’s largest and most trusted edge platform, Akamai keeps apps, code, and experiences closer to users – and threats farther away.
With REsurety’s locational marginal emissions (LME) data, Akamai is able to be far more accurate in its avoided emissions calculations. Instead of trying to make sense of inconsistent regional datasets, Akamai is able to calculate the precise impact of its activities at each location on the grid. In addition, REsurety’s project LME reports provide visibility into why emissions are what they are – for example, showing how much gas or coal is being displaced, or how much wind is being curtailed due to Akamai’s activities. Lastly, Akamai is now able to use the LME data to evaluate new PPA opportunities to ensure that it is focusing its efforts on the locations and technologies that can have the biggest impact on carbon emissions. Learn more by downloading the case study.
“…LMEs bring the environmental community five steps closer to the measurement accuracy needed to solve the global emissions crisis.”
– Mike Mattera, Director of of Corporate Sustainability and ESG Officer, Akamai Technologies
Measure and Maximize the Carbon Impact of your Load and Clean Energy Purchases with Confidence
Download REsurety’s product brochure on locational marginal emissions to learn more about the product offerings and uses of this innovative, carbon-tracking technology.
New data empowers wind, solar and energy storage projects and load centers to accurately calculate their carbon impact
BOSTON, March 17, 2022 – REsurety announced today the expansion of its breakthrough Locational Marginal Emissions (LME) carbon data tool to the PJM power grid in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region. Previously available only in Texas’s ERCOT grid, the expansion of the data set into PJM results in a dramatic increase in the number of locations for which the high-resolution emissions data is available, with now nearly 15,000 distinct locations served. It’s also the first time that REsurety will be releasing data at the five-minute level, which is particularly valuable for understanding the impact of storage on the PJM grid. The company intends to scale LMEs to the rest of the United States and internationally.
The Locational Marginal Emissions data set measures marginal carbon emissions rates at each node on the grid, enabling insight to the impact of each specific clean energy project site or load location. This capability allows project developers, investors, and corporations to accurately understand the carbon impact of their activities.
“This data is critical for efficiently decarbonizing the grid, as we can now see the impact of specific projects and activities on system-wide emissions,” said Adam Reeve, Senior Vice President of Software, REsurety. “By understanding the carbon emissions impact of specific technologies at specific locations, we can ensure that clean energy strategies are more precisely targeted to where they can have the biggest impact.”
Reeve continued, “We are especially excited about what this means for the value proposition of energy storage. While many people intuitively understand that storage is a necessary technology for decarbonization, historically the industry has lacked the tools to measure its impact accurately.
“But with this level of nodal granularity, we can measure the impact of specific storage projects on the grid during both charging and discharging. We can see, for example, how some projects charge when the marginal generator is clean, and then discharge when the marginal generator is dirty, avoiding a significant amount of carbon emissions in the process.”
“We can also see how other storage projects, unfortunately, can actually increase system emissions. It’s not a one-size-fits-all technology. Where you site energy storage and how you schedule its dispatch can mean the difference between significant increases or decreases in carbon emissions. This data empowers investors and storage operators to measure and maximize their carbon reduction impact.”
Recognizing the value of marginal carbon emissions data, PJM started publishing marginal emissions rates at load node locations starting in January, 2021. REsurety’s data set builds on that initial step in a number ways, including by extending the data set to cover generator nodes and correcting anomalous data points (or outliers) with values consistent with the actual topology of the transmission grid. REsurety also leverages its own models to extend the nodal data back several years, enabling analysis of longer-term market trends.
The resulting LME data set takes into account real-time grid congestion, actual emissions rates by each generator unit, and the physical power flows throughout the system. The data set is available via an API and being integrated into REsurety’s other software tools.
“LMEs can be used to measure the carbon impact of any sustainability strategy – whether it is focusing on local procurement, 24/7 matching, or maximizing your carbon emissions impact,” said Reeve. “We’re excited for this high-resolution emissions data to enable better measurement and decision-making across the board.”
REsurety’s Locational Marginal Emissions data is currently available in ERCOT and PJM, and will be available for other markets later this year. To learn how your company can better measure and maximize the carbon impact of your clean energy initiatives, contact us at [email protected].
About REsurety REsurety is the leading analytics company empowering the clean energy economy. Operating at the intersection of weather, power markets, and financial modeling, we enable the industry’s decision-makers to thrive through best-in-class value and risk intelligence, and the tools to act on it. For more information, visit www.resurety.com or follow REsurety on LinkedIn.
Broad Reach Power (BRP) is a leading U.S. utility-scale independent power producer (IPP) that understands the long-term value and rapid growth of energy storage as an infrastructure asset, particularly in those markets transitioning from traditional to renewable generation. BRP’s facilities provide flexibility, reliability, and environmental benefits while generating revenues from both risk-management contracts and spot-market opportunities.
“With a storage pipeline exceeding 20GW, granular carbon emissions data is mission critical in assisting Broad Reach Power more efficiently reduce carbon emissions while increasing grid reliability; REsurety provides that data.”
– Paul Choi, EVP of Origination, Broad Reach Power
Learn how Broad Reach Power uses REsurety’s Locational Marginal Emissions (LMEs) to measure impact, offer innovative solutions and identify project locations.
Enhanced power grid insights will enable more effective investments in renewables, storage, and load siting.
Boston, Mass. and Oakland, Calif. – Nov. 2, 2021 – Today clean energy analytics firm REsurety and environmental tech nonprofit WattTime announced a partnership to increase access to more comprehensive and granular carbon emissions data across U.S. and international markets. Through this partnership, they will leverage their respective strengths in measuring marginal carbon emissions to provide previously unavailable depth and breadth of visibility into the carbon impact of their energy-related procurement options and understand which choices offer the greatest benefit to the environment.
REsurety first unveiled its Locational Marginal Emissions (LME) data product in July 2021 with the support of major developers, investors, and corporates. LME empowers customers to measure and maximize how much carbon they cut through clean energy purchases. REsurety currently offers nodal LME data for the ERCOT (Texas) market. Through this new integration of WattTime’s regional emissions dataset, REsurety will also be able to provide regional marginal emissions rates across the entire continental United States as well as international power grids including Europe and Australia.
“LME enables companies to measure the impact of their existing clean energy purchases with unrivaled accuracy and confidence, and empowers them to maximize the carbon impact of their future investments,: said Lee Taylor, founder and CEO of REsurety. “We are thrilled to have found a like-minded partners in WattTime as we work together to maximize our collective decarbonization impact.”
WattTime invented Automated Emissions Reductions (AER) software, which enables the shifting of flexible electricity loads to periods of cleaner energy and away from moments of dirtier energy, based on the time-specific marginal emissions rates in different grid balancing areas. In recent years, WattTime has also popularized “emissionality”, the practice of using the location-specific avoided emissions benefits of different renewable energy projects in the selection process. With WattTime’s help, organizations including Boston University, solar developed Clearloop, steel producer Nucor, and tech giant Salesforce have all incorporated emissionality into their renewable energy strategies.
“With the growing urgency of the climate crisis and organizations’ desire to maximize the positive impact of their sustainability strategies and investments, REsurety and their LME platform offer a powerful tool to evaluate potential projects,” said Henry Richardson, senior analyst at WattTime. “We’re proud to support REsurety and enhance the emissions intelligence they are are able to provide.”
LMEs bring a new level of precision and accuracy to measuring the carbon abated or created at any given moment and at any given location on the grid. By calculating the carbon emissions at each node on the grid with hourly granularity, REsurety’s LME product offers, for the first time, visibility into the project-specific carbon impact of each clean energy purchase or investment. By integrating WattTime’s emissions data into its platform, REsurety will be able to provide its clients with regional marginal emissions data in areas where the nodal LME data is not yet available, thereby greatly expanding the geographic coverage of the platform.
About REsurety REsurety is the leading analytics company empowering the clean energy economy. Operating at the intersection of weather, power markets and financial modeling, we enable the industry’s decision makers to thrive through best-in-class value and risk intelligence, and the tools to act on it. Learn more about REsurety at: www.resurety.com or follow REsurety on LinkedIn.
About WattTime WattTime is an environmental tech nonprofit that empowers all people, companies, policymakers, and countries to slash emissions and choose cleaner energy. Founded by UC Berkeley researchers, we develop data-driven tools and policies that increase environmental and social good, including Automated Emissions Reduction and emissionality. WattTime is also the convening member and cofounder of the global Climate TRACE coalition. During the energy transition from a fossil-fueled past to a zero-carbon future, WattTime ‘bends the curve’ of emissions reductions to realize deeper, faster benefits for people and the planet. For more information, visit https://watttime.org.
