taec™

Renewable Obligation Certificates (or ROCs) store details of how electricity was generated, who generated it, and who eventually used it. Since April 2002 all UK licensed electricity suppliers have been obliged to obtain a proportion of the electricity they sell from a selection of eligible renewable sources such as wind and solar power.

For every 1,000 units (1MWh) of green electricity an energy company generates they receive one ROC. A company that generates more than its renewable obligation can sell ROCs to energy suppliers who have failed to meet their RE obligation. In this way power companies are financially motivated to invest in renewable energy generation projects.

The price of one ROC is set by the market and reflects the size of the difference between the percentage of RE electricity generated in the UK (currently around 6%) and the renewable obligation percentage (currently 6.7%). The bigger the shortfall, the more expensive each ROC and the more green electricity generators are rewarded for their efforts and fossil fuel burners are punished.

Currenly ROCs are selling at around £40 each, however prices could fall as more and more wind turbine generators and major offshore windfarms come online in the UK.

Every year the renewable obligation level increases - it started in 2002/3 at 3%, and will reach 10% by 2010, and 15.4% in 2015/16. The goal is to reach 20% by 2020.

TAEC will normally take care of obtaining permission from your local electricity network supplier (DNO) for you to attach a small wind turbine to the grid, but you must seek an agreement with a supplier, which may or may not be same company, to buy your generated electricity and claim your ROCs.

Selling your Generated Energy

You may sell your surplus generated power to any of the companies that are licensed to do so, and a number that deal with purchasing exported "green" energy are listed below. This is however a constantly changing list and the best supplier will change over time.
Some energy suppliers will agree to buy back your exported electricity for the same tariff as you currently import any electricity you require. You are advised to shop around the different energy suppliers to find out the best deal for you. Please note you are not legally obliged to have one agreement with the same energy supplier for your import and export electricity needs, but in practice this may not be practicable. You should also enquire about changing your electricity meter for a meter that measures both import and export of electricity (smart meter) with your energy supplier.
Recently the number of companies offering schemes has grown considerably and the rates you can get have increased considerably. Each scheme however is different and you need to read them very carefully to understand what will be best for you.
Good Energy has four generator schemes: Home Generation, off grid Generation, Smart Generation and Commercial Generation. Details of the schemes can be found on their Generate Your Own page.
The Home Generation scheme currently for generators up to 6kW pays 9p per kWh, but for all energy generated irrespective if it used within the property. It is therefore very attractive for smaller wind and PV customers who will be using most of the power within the property.
Their Smart Generation scheme is for generators between 6 - 75kW offers a current price is £43.41 per MWh for exported energy + £43.48 for ROCs with an annual charge of £93 for metering. The price may however vary over time and your exact location.

Obtaining ROCs as a Domestic RE Generator

ROCs are not restricted to the major utility companies. Anyone who is generating renewable source electricity can apply to ofgem to be registered as a Small Scale RE Generator (<50kW). If you generate sufficient RE electricity from your solar panels and/or wind turbines you will receive renewable obligation certificiates which you can sell on the open market. In this way, you obtain free electricity from your RE source AND you effectively get paid for it!
If you have a grid-tied system then you would be paid by your energy supplier for every unit of electricity you spill into the grid AND you will get ROCs for every unit you generate whether you used it or sold it. An extra meter must be fitted to your renewable system and you simply declare each year how many units you have generated from your renewable source and your digital ROCs are added to your account.
You can sell your ROCs through a broker for a fee. Obviously the fewer ROCs you have, the higher the per ROC fee will be. e-ROC, for example, have a quarterly online auction of renewable obligation certificates charging just 50p+VAT per ROC sold with a minimum charge of £50+VAT.
Ofgem buy ROC's at an inflation linked price - currently around £32 - so at worst you can expect to make approximately 3p/kWh for each unit you generate as long as you generate more than 500 kWh per year.

Listed below are other power companies that may purchase the energy you generate from your wind turbine for a better rate than your current supplier.

Company Name	Scheme	Contact	Phone
CE Electrics UK		Gary Mitchell	0845702702
Ecotricity		Gary Freedman	01453 769333
EDF Energy	Power Purchase Agreement	Green Energy Team	0800 0511905
Good Energy		Rebecca Brown	0845 456 1640
Green Energy	Sell us Energy	Claire Adam	01920 486156
Npower	Microgeneration Export Reward Scheme	Sue Warman	01905 340646
Tradelink Solutions		Penelope Christophorou	01923 713840
A ROC Agent