Carbon Guide
March 2025
EAC Edition | October 2026
Welcome to this edition of Carbon Guide, where we turn our attention to Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs) and the rapidly evolving expectations around renewable electricity procurement.
For years, purchasing EACs has been one of the simplest ways for companies to substantiate their renewable electricity consumption. But the market is changing. Increasingly, the question is no longer simply ‘Did you buy enough certificates?’ but rather ‘What did you buy, where did it come from, when was it generated, and can you substantiate the claim?’
This shift is being driven by tighter expectations around the quality, traceability, and impact of renewable electricity procurement. The SBTi’s Corporate Net-Zero Standard v2.0, published in June 2026, introduces new requirements around geographic deliverability, certificate integrity, and transparency, while placing greater emphasis on hourly matching for companies with significant electricity consumption. Meanwhile, the GHG Protocol is progressing its revision of Scope 2 guidance, with proposals pointing towards more granular temporal and geographic matching of market-based electricity claims.
At the same time, EAC markets themselves are becoming more dynamic. Price volatility, changing regulatory frameworks, growing demand for higher-quality certificates, and increasing scrutiny from auditors and stakeholders are making procurement strategies more important than ever.
In this edition, we explore what makes an EAC credible, the differences between ‘bundled’ and ‘unbundled’ renewable electricity procurement, and how corporates can navigate increasingly complex global certificate markets. We also look at what the SBTi’s Corporate Net-Zero Standard v2.0 means for renewable electricity procurement, the latest direction of travel for the GHG Protocol’s Scope 2 Guidance, and the practical implications for companies planning their EAC strategies.
In the News: Key Recent Developments
Isometric launches REDD+ methodology to rebuild confidence in forest credits
Carbon standard Isometric has announced a new REDD+ methodology designed to increase transparency and credibility in forest conservation projects, potentially expanding the supply of high-integrity, nature-based credits.
SARA makes first carbon credit payments to South American farmers
The South American Regenerative Agriculture (SARA) programme has made its first payments to farmers from carbon credit revenues. This is an important milestone for regenerative agriculture in the region, and it shows how carbon markets can directly reward sustainable farming practices.
Ecuador opens the door to Article 6 carbon trading
New legislation formally recognises carbon markets in Ecuador and enables participation in Article 6 mechanisms. This could unlock new supply from one of Latin America’s most important nature-based carbon markets.
Verra launches Scope 3 Standard to tackle value chain emissions
Verra has launched its new Scope 3 Standard, enabling companies to invest in mitigation activities within their supply chains and generate verified Scope 3 Units. This marks an important step towards helping businesses address the emissions that are often hardest to reduce and account for.
Unbundled Energy Attribute Certificates
Know exactly what renewable electricity you’re claiming, anywhere in the world.
Most companies with a renewable electricity target will, at some point, buy Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs). An EAC is proof that one megawatt-hour (MWh) of renewable electricity has been generated and fed into the grid. Under the GHG Protocol’s market-based method, it is the instrument that allows you to claim renewable electricity and report lower Scope 2 emissions, provided it is retired in your name.
In this edition, we explain unbundled EACs: what they are, how the global market fits together, and what makes a certificate credible.
Bundled or unbundled: what are you actually buying?
There are two ways to buy the renewable attributes of electricity:
- Bundled EACs come as part of your electricity supply contract, typically a green tariff. Your supplier sources and cancels the certificates on your behalf.
- Unbundled EACs let you keep your existing power contract and buy certificates separately. You choose the source yourself and have them retired in your name.
Both routes are valid under the GHG Protocol. The difference lies in transparency and control.
With a green tariff, you often don’t know exactly which certificates are being used. The technology, country, plant age, or vintage may not be disclosed, and the supplier may switch sources from year to year.
With unbundled EACs, you choose the technology, the country, and even the specific project. You receive the cancellation statement yourself, so you can tell a clear, concrete story to auditors, CDP, and your stakeholders. Unbundled certificates are also flexible: they can cover sites where you can’t change supplier, such as leased offices or shared buildings.
On a green tariff? Four questions to ask your supplier
- Which certificates? Which tracking system and registry are used, and in which country were the certificates issued?
- Which plants? What technology is used, and when was the plant commissioned or repowered?
- Which period? Does the production date fall within the eligible window for your reporting year?
- Whose name? Do you receive a cancellation statement in your company’s name for your volume?
If the answers are unclear, unbundled EACs give you that certainty in writing.
One target, many markets
EACs are not a single global product. Each market has its own certificate and registry, and a certificate generally only counts if it was issued in the same market as your consumption.
- Europe: Guarantees of Origin (GOs) under the AIB system. The UK (REGOs) and Poland run their own registries.
- USA and Canada: Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), often Green-e certified.
- Rest of the world: I-RECs, issued in dozens of countries across Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, and TIGRs in parts of South-East Asia.
- National systems: China (GEC), Japan (NFC), South Korea (K-REC), Taiwan (T-REC), Australia (LGC), and New Zealand (NZEC).
For multinationals, this means a patchwork of registries, prices, lead times, and rules. Anthesis holds accounts with registries worldwide and has access to every major EAC type, so a single partner can cover your entire footprint and deliver one consolidated set of cancellation statements.
Quality criteria: what makes an EAC count for RE100?
Not all certificates are equal. RE100 sets five criteria for credible renewable electricity claims:
- Sustainable production: Wind, solar and geothermal. Biomass and hydro only when sustainably sourced.
- Tracking system: Attributes must be reliably tracked from generator to consumer to prevent double counting. Accepted systems include RECs, I-RECs, AIB GOs, REGOs, and national systems such as Japan’s NFC, China’s GEC, Australia’s LGC and Polish GOs.
- Market boundaries: Certificates must be sourced within the same market as consumption, with a grid connection. For RECs, that means the US and Canada; for AIB GOs, European single-market countries on an interconnected grid. Where supply is insufficient, an adjacent, connected country may be used.
- Commercial operation date: The plant must have been commissioned or repowered no more than 15 years before the consumption period, so 2026 consumption requires a plant from 2011 or later. Up to 15% of total electricity consumption may be exempt where this isn’t feasible.
- Production period: Production must be reasonably close to consumption. Green-e allows a 21-month eligibility window, so 2026 consumption can be matched with certificates produced from the second half of 2025 to the first quarter of 2027.
Vintage window for 2026 consumption (21 months)
| 6 months before | Year of consumption | 3 months after |
| H2 2025 | 2026 (12 months) | Q1 2027 |
Looking ahead
Standards are evolving. The GHG Protocol Scope 2 revision and version 2.0 of the SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard are both considering tighter market boundaries and more granular matching. The criteria above remain current market practice, and buying transparently now, with full attribute data, will make it much easier to adapt when the rules change.
How can Anthesis support you?
- Global access: GOs, RECs, I-RECs, TIGRs, and national certificates from a single supplier.
- Full transparency: project-specific certificates, with technology, location, commissioning date, and vintage disclosed upfront.
- Quality assurance: every purchase checked against RE100, the GHG Protocol, and your own criteria.
- Strategy and reporting: multi-year sourcing, combining EACs with power purchase agreements (PPAs), and cancellation statements ready for CDP and RE100 reporting.
Webinars on demand
Did you miss one of our recent webinars?
- Renewable Electricity Procurement: From Green Retail to Verifiable Proof. View here.
- Navigating Renewable Energy Procurement: PPAs in a Shifting Regulatory Landscape. View here.
- Evolving Scope 2 Regulation – The Changing Role of RECs and EACs. View here.
- The Updated SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0. View here.
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