An I‑REC for Electricity is referred to as an I-REC(E) and is an exchangeable Energy Attribute Certificate (EAC) that conveys information about the production of a unit of renewable electricity (with the ‘renewable’ being defined by the International Energy Agency (IEA) (World Energy Outlook 2023) such as where the electricity was produced, the capacity of the Production Facility, and the energy source.
I‑REC(E) can be used for a variety of (voluntary) requirements including Scope 2 reporting, national energy reporting, and general End-user claims, and allows all electricity users to make a conscious and evidence-based choice for electricity, in any country where service providers have been Accredited by the International Tracking Standard Foundation.
I-REC for Electricity Product Code
The I-REC(E) Product Code held by Evident is an I-TRACK Foundation Accredited Product Code that describes the application of the International Attribute Tracking Standard. The I-REC(E) Code sets out the definitions, processes, and procedures that form the requirements for the issuance, transfer, and redemptions of an I‑REC(E).
The I-REC(E) Code defines all procedures and processes relevant to the facilitation of the I-REC for electricity Product Certificate.
I-REC(E) Governing Council
The I-REC for Electricity Governing Council (Electricity Council) is a group of stakeholders that is currently in development whose goal is to support formalizing the governance and oversight of the I-REC(E) Product Code. For the Electricity Council, all Accredited parties (Code Manager, Registry Operator, Issuer, Labelling Authorities, and Platforms) will have a future role, as will Market Players, their clients, and third-party stakeholders.
To accommodate these groups, the Electricity Council stakeholders will be appointed with voting rights. The Electricity Council will take positions on the geographic availability of tracking instruments, Code changes, market barriers, adherence to national regulations, and coordination with standards, governments, and other stakeholder groups.
More information about the Council can be requested by the I-TRACK Foundation secretariat.
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I-REC(E) Fee Structure
Market Facilitators (I-TRACK Accredited Entities) and Market Players are dependent on each other for a thriving EAC market. Market Players need a robust EAC system that adheres to international best practices to enable them to make trustworthy energy claims. These instruments are provided by Market Facilitators, who are in return dependent on the use of these instruments to continue their facilitation of the market.
The International Tracking Standard Foundation requires all Market Facilitators to ensure a level playing field for all Market Players and guarantee – without exception – a fair and competitive market. This means that all Participants and Registrants must pay the same fees for the same services.
To see the Evident Fee Structure, download the document at the top of this section.
I-REC(E) Code Manager
Evident was founded in 2014 by a team of experts who had been instrumental in the creation of RECs and the Guarantee of Origin in Europe. Built on expertise in energy certification, regulation, markets, registry design and operation, and issuing service provision, Evident’s mission is to provide a robust and flexible framework for energy certification for governments, industry, and end-users. Evident’s service is Accredited to the quality and transparency requirements specified by the International Tracking Standard Foundation. Evident is the Code Manager for the I-REC for Electricity Product Code and is therefore responsible for the detailed regulations of the I‑REC(E) service and coordination with partner Issuers around the world. The I-REC for Electricity [I-REC(E)] Product Code, owned by Evident, is Accredited by the International Tracking Standard Foundation, fully established in over 60 countries around the world, and recently updated. |
I-REC(E) Registry
Evident’s service is backed by its world-class registry system, designed and developed by a team that specializes in energy attribute certificate registries and has experience dating back to the first such registries in the late 1990s. |
I-REC(E) Issuers
Issuers are responsible for the registration of ‘Registrants’ (production device owners or entities acting on production device owners’ behalf) and their respective production devices in a country or region. Without Issuer authorization for a specific country or region, it is not possible to issue I-REC(E) for production devices in that country or region. In addition, Issuers are responsible for the issuance of I-REC(E), which includes the verification of data.
I-REC(E) Platform Operators
Accredited Platform Operators are in the position to provide additional services such as facilitating a marketplace, providing better visualization tools for market players and end-users, and many other things they see as beneficial in the market. Accredited Registries are the single point of truth for legal ownership of I-REC(E), and can be used for the issuance, transfer, and redemption of certificates, but Platforms can change the interface through which market players communicate with the I-REC(E) Registry.
The International Tracking Standard Foundation (I-TRACK Foundation) supports Accredited Platform Operators to innovate and provide additional services.
I-REC(E) Market Players
I-REC(E) Market Registrants
Production device owners or entities acting on their behalf must register as a ‘registrant’ with the Issuer that is responsible for the issuance of I-REC(E) in the relevant country. A Registrant is the only party that can register a production device with the local Issuer and requests the issuance of I-REC(E).
The Registrant must always request that I-REC(E)be issued into the account (trade account) of a Participant. The Registrant can also be a Participant, but this could also be a third party. Registration as a Registrant is free. However, there are fees attached to the registration of production devices.
For specific instructions and registration documents for a specific country, please see the documents on this page or visit a specific country page through the world map.
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I-REC(E) Market Participants
A Participant is a Market Player, trader, or consumer with an account on the Registry of the Code Manager. They may redeem certificates on their behalf, or behalf of their clients and can trade certificates from their primary account to the primary account of another market player.
Participants have three main account types:
In general, Participants have one primary account and an unlimited number of subaccounts and redemption accounts. Registration as a Participant has associated fees.
To view the list of I-REC(E) Participants, download the I-REC(E) Market Participants document. |
I-TRACK for Electricity
What is an I-TRACK Certificate
I-TRACK Certificates are Energy Attribute Certificates (EAC) that represent the environmental attributes of the generation of a one-megawatt hour (MWh) of energy produced.
I-TRACK(E) vs I-REC(E)
Like an I-REC(E), an I-TRACK for Electricity certificate [I-TRACK(E)] is an exchangeable EAC that conveys information about the production of a unit of electricity. The key difference is that the source for an I-TRACK(E) is always non-renewable.
To determine whether an energy source falls under I-REC(E) statistics or I-TRACK(E) statistics, the definition of the International Energy Agency (IEA) is being followed (World Energy Outlook 2023, IEA).”
Why the distinction?
The distinction between an I-TRACK for Electricity certificate [I-TRACK(E)] (from non-renewable sources) and an I-REC for Electricity certificate [I-REC(E)] (from renewable sources) allows for the issuance of every single MWh in the country to be tracked and allocated to one specific end-user regardless of the energy source.
Market Statistics
Following the introduction of I-TRACK for electricity [I-TRACK(E)], the I-REC(E) Market Statistics, while presented in a similar way to past versions, will distinguish between certificates from non-renewable sources [I-TRACK(E)] and renewable sources [I-REC(E)].
