The Renewables Obligation Order 2015

Articles 2(1), 28 and 82

PART 1 Greenhouse gas criteria

Interpretation

1.  In this Schedule—

“actual value method” means the calculation method provided for in Part 2;

“default value method” means the calculation method provided for in Part 3;

“post-2013 dedicated biomass station” means a generating station which—

(a)

was not accredited on or before 31st March 2013, and

(b)

has, in any month after March 2013, generated electricity in the way described as “dedicated biomass” in Schedule 5;

“relevant biomass” means biomass other than animal excreta, bioliquid, landfill gas, sewage gas or waste;

“relevant ceiling” means—

(a)

in relation to biomass used by a post-2013 dedicated biomass station to generate electricity before 1st April 2020, 79.2 grams per megajoule of electricity,

(b)

in relation to biomass used to generate electricity on or after 1st April 2020 and before 1st April 2025, 75 grams per megajoule of electricity,

(c)

in relation to biomass used to generate electricity on or after 1st April 2025, 72.2 grams per megajoule of electricity;

“relevant target” means—

(a)

in relation to biomass used to generate electricity before 1st April 2020 by a station other than a post-2013 dedicated biomass station, 79.2 grams per megajoule of electricity,

(b)

in relation to biomass used by a post-2013 dedicated biomass station to generate electricity before 1st April 2020, 66.7 grams per megajoule of electricity,

(c)

in relation to biomass used to generate electricity on or after 1st April 2020 and before 1st April 2025, 55.6 grams per megajoule of electricity,

(d)

in relation to biomass used to generate electricity on or after 1st April 2025, 50 grams per megajoule of electricity.

The greenhouse gas criteria

2.  Biomass meets the greenhouse gas criteria—

(a) if the greenhouse gas emissions from its use are equal to, or less than, the relevant target, or

(b) if—

(i) the biomass is used by a post-2013 dedicated biomass station or the biomass is used to generate electricity after 1st April 2020,

(ii) the greenhouse gas emissions from its use are equal to, or less than, the relevant ceiling, and

(iii) the biomass is used in an obligation period in which the average greenhouse gas emissions from the relevant biomass used by the station to generate electricity during that obligation period are equal to, or less than, the relevant target.

Calculating the greenhouse gas emissions

3.  For the purposes of paragraph 2, and subject to paragraph 4, the greenhouse gas emissions from the use of biomass to generate electricity—

(a) is to be calculated by the operator of the generating station using the actual value method or the default value method, or

(b) is 91 grams per megajoule of electricity.

4.  The default value method must not be used to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions from the use of biomass unless—

(a) the biomass was used in a generating station with a total installed capacity of less than 1 megawatt,

(b) the biomass is described in the first column of the table in Part 4, and

(c) in relation to the biomass, the result of the calculation in paragraph 7 of Part C of Annex 5 to the Renewables Directive is equal to, or less than, zero.

5.  For the purposes of paragraph 4(c), paragraph 7 of Part C of Annex 5 to the Renewables Directive is to be read as if—

(a) for each reference to “biofuel” there was substituted “biomass”; and

(b) the words “or bioliquid” were omitted in each place in which those words occur.