Document type: Appendices

Ref: 170/08

Renewables Obligation: DRAFT Fuel Measurement and Sampling Guidance Supplementary Appendices

Overview:

This document provides generators using biomass and waste fuels with draft guidance

on how to meet the fuel measurement and sampling requirements of the Renewables

Obligation. It details the requirements of the legislation, what we expect from

generators, and suggestions on how generators can best meet these requirements. It is

not intended to be a definitive legal guide.

This document is an update of guidance 57/07 (published 29 March 2007) to encompass

the reforms to the Renewables Obligation Order which take effect from 1 April 2009.

Date of publication: 19 December 2008

Deadline for response: 9 February 2009

Target audience: This document may be of interest to generators using biomass and/or waste fuels, trade associations, fuel suppliers and other interested parties.

Contact name and details: Jonathan Blagrove- Manager Renewables Team

Biomass, Co-firing and Waste

Tel: 020 7901 7094

Email: jonathan.blagrove@ofgem.gov.uk

Team: Regulatory Services

Office of Gas and Electricity Markets

Appendices

Draft FMS Guidance Supplementary Appendices December 2008

The Government's aim is that renewable energy will make an increasing contribution

to energy supplies in the UK, with renewable energy playing a key role in the wider

Climate Change Programme.

The Renewables Obligation, the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) and the Northern

Ireland Renewables Obligation are designed to incentivise renewable generation into

the electricity generation market. These schemes were introduced by the then

Department of Trade and Industry, the Scottish Executive and the Department of

Enterprise, Trade and Investment respectively and are administered by the Gas and

Electricity Markets Authority (whose day-to-day functions are performed by Ofgem).

The schemes are provided for in secondary legislation.

The first Renewables Obligation Order came into force in April 2002, as did the first

Renewables Obligation (Scotland) Order. These Orders were subject to review in

2004, 2005 2006 and 2007, and in 2008 for Scotland. The first Renewables

Obligation Order (Northern Ireland) came into force in April 2005. New Orders came

into force on 1 April 2005, 1 April 2006 and 1 April 2007. The Renewables Obligation

Order (Northern Ireland) 2007 was amended on 19 October to allow for its continued

effective operation within the new Single Electricity Market arrangements for the

island of Ireland with effect from 1 November 2007. All three Orders will be replaced

with new Orders on 1 April 2009, which introduce banding and grandfathering and

other changes to the Renewables Obligation.

The Orders place an obligation on licensed electricity suppliers in England and Wales,

Scotland, and Northern Ireland respectively to source an increasing proportion of

electricity from renewable sources. Suppliers meet their obligations by presenting

sufficient Renewables Obligation Certificates ("ROCs") to cover their obligations.

Where suppliers do not have sufficient ROCs to meet their obligation, they must pay

an equivalent amount into a fund, the proceeds of which are paid back on a pro-

rated basis to those suppliers that have presented ROCs.

In particular, this guidance has been updated to reflect a number of changes made

as part of the reform of the Renewables Obligation, some of which have been

designed specifically for fuelled stations. The introduction of banding and

grandfathering will have a significant impact on the number of ROCs that can

potentially be claimed by fuelled generators, and this will in turn have a major

bearing on the workings of the Obligation as a whole.

This draft guidance document has been written on the basis of the draft Renewables

Obligation Order 2009, published by the Department for Energy and Climate Change

on 2 December 2009, and the Government response to the statutory consultation on

the draft Renewables Obligation Order 2009, also published on 2 December 2009.

Readers should be aware that some Articles within this document have been referred

to as Article {X}" reflecting both the draft Order in its current form and the formal

Government response.

Context

Office of Gas and Electricity Markets

Appendices

Draft FMS Guidance Supplementary Appendices December 2008

Readers should be aware of the following documents which support this publication.

These documents are available on our website at www.ofgem.gov.uk.

Draft Fuel Measurement and Sampling Guidance

Renewables Obligation : guidance for generators over 50kW

Renewables Obligation : guidance for generators under 50kW

Renewables and CHP Register User Guide

Fuel measurement and sampling questionnaire

Associated Documents

http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/

Office of Gas and Electricity Markets

Appendices

Draft FMS Guidance Supplementary Appendices December 2008

Table of Contents

Appendix 6 Volume/energy content measurement for solid fuels .. 1 Volume measurement using a weighbridge ...................................................... 1 Volume measurement using a weighbridge and stock calculation ........................ 2 Volume measurement using a belt weigher ...................................................... 3

Accuracy ................................................................................................. 3 Energy content measurement using belt weighers ............................................. 4 Energy content measurement from delivery vessels .......................................... 5 Energy content measurement from stockpile .................................................... 6 Contamination identification and prevention ..................................................... 7 Storage ....................................................................................................... 9

Wood storage ............................................................................................ 9 Animal processing residues ....................................................................... 10 Agricultural residues ................................................................................ 10 Other plant fuels ..................................................................................... 11

Appendix 7 Volume/energy content measurement for liquid fuels 12 Volume measurement using flow meters ........................................................ 12 Volume measurement using tank level measurement ...................................... 12 Volume measurement using a weighbridge .................................................... 13 Volume measurement using a weighbridge and tank level measurement ........... 14 Energy content measurement from storage tank ............................................. 16 Energy content measurement from delivery vessels ........................................ 16 Energy content measurement using a flow meter ............................................ 17 Contamination identification and prevention ................................................... 18 Storage ..................................................................................................... 19 Mixing liquid biomass fuels with liquid fossil fuels ............................................ 19 The marker method .................................................................................... 20

How the marker method works ................................................................. 20 When the marker method can be used ....................................................... 20 The marker calculation ............................................................................. 20

The mass balance method............................................................................ 23 How the mass balance method works ......................................................... 23 When the mass balance method can be used .............................................. 23 The mass balance calculation .................................................................... 24

The analytical method ................................................................................. 26 Appendix 8 Volume/energy content measurement for gaseous fuels ........................................................................................................ 27

Volume measurement using flow meters and a conditions adjustment calculation27 Energy content measurement using flow meters and a conditions adjustment

calculation ................................................................................................. 28 Volume reference conditions ..................................................................... 29 Estimating the GCV of biogas .................................................................... 29 The calculation for the GCV of biogas ......................................................... 29

Volume and energy content measurement for a synthetic gas produced via

gasification/pyrolysis ................................................................................... 31 A suggested methodology ......................................................................... 31

Energy content measurement for anaerobic digestion plants