Key information on our fuel mix disclosure obligation, renewable obligations and CERT information
Fuel Mix Disclosure Obligation
The Fuel Mix Disclosure obligation is a requirement on npower to provide details to customers of the mix of fuels used to produce the electricity it supplies together with certain other environmental information.
Additional environmental information required to be communicated relates to the impact of the electricity supplied in the relevant period, in terms of CO2 emissions and any radioactive waste generated from the sources used.
The fuel mix information contained in the table on the main page is presented in percentage terms to the nearest whole percentage point. There is scope to further sub-divide each category, for example to identify a particular technology or renewable source.
Sustainability obligations
Renewable Obligation (RO)
As part of the legal obligations that apply to them UK Electricity suppliers have to comply with a requirement to purchase a minimum level of electricity from renewable sources. The information on this page relates to all suppliers; the exact amount spent on environmental programmes by particular suppliers may vary from the figures shown.
These sustainability conditions may be summarised as:
- Suppliers have a Renewables Obligation (RO) requirement under which they have to buy Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) to fulfil their annual obligations and/or pay a fee to Ofgem;
- The Government's ongoing aim of the Renewable Obligation is to encourage an increased amount of electricity to be generated from renewable sources such as the sun, wind, or biomass;
- The Renewables Obligation (RO) requires electricity suppliers to supply an increasing proportion of electricity from renewable sources or to pay a ‘buy-out’ price. The money raised from the buy-out fund is recycled to suppliers and further supports the development of renewables projects.
- Ofgem states that the average amount a domestic customer on a standard electricity tariff is already contributing to renewable energy as a result of the Renewable Obligation is £12 a year. This is based on a typical consumption of 3,300kWh
- In order to minimise the cost to our customers we only buy ROCs when they represent better value than paying the buy-out. The relative proportions of ROC redemption and buy-out we use for compliance in any one year will depend on the price at which ROCs can be obtained and the buy-out price in that year.
Between April 2008 and March 2009 we met 64% of our obligation through ROCs, and redeemed the rest through buy-outs.
Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT)
- Licensed energy suppliers also have obligations to invest in energy efficiency under the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) through measures such as low energy appliances or loft or cavity wall insulation;
- The Government's ongoing aim of the CERT is to encourage an increased amount of energy efficiency by domestic customers;
- CERT replaced the Energy Efficiency Commitment (EEC). CERT sets energy-savings targets for each energy supplier based on the number of customers it has. In September 2009, the Government increased the CERT target for all energy companies. Our target is to save 25.3 million tonnes of CO2 emissions in domestic homes over the lifetime of those measures. All these projects will need to be deployed by March 2011.
- To do that npower will spend more than £350 million helping customers reduce the amount of energy they use over the three years to March 2011. We will deliver 40% of these CO2 savings within priority groups: those over 70 or on income or disability-related benefits.
- The average amount that domestic customers on standard gas and electricity tariffs are already contributing towards the supplier's CERT obligations is £45 a year, based on typical dual fuel customers using 20,500kWh of gas and 3,300kWh of electricity;
- We’re currently in talks with the Government about extending CERT beyond March 2011, including a new ‘Super Priority Group’ to ensure that households benefiting from the measures are the most vulnerable. The eligibility for this Group is still to be finalised.
- Under CERT and with the help of our appointed partners, we installed cavity wall insulation in 164,000 homes and loft insulation in 193,000 homes last year. More than 27,300 customers purchased loft insulation to install themselves as part of our new DIY loft insulation scheme. We also distributed over 18,550,000 free energy-saving light bulbs and completed 4,900 fuel switches.
In addition, our specially trained energy efficiency advisers offered free impartial advice on ways to save energy and cut energy bills through our Freephone helpline. This helpline answered over 51,700 calls.
