Certified Renewable Energy
Show the world your business’s commitment to sustainability with Meridian’s 100% Certified Renewable Energy product.
What is Certified Renewable Energy?
Certified Renewable Energy (Certified) enables Meridian’s business customers to match the amount of electricity they use on an annual basis, with an equivalent amount of electricity put into the national grid from one of Meridian’s hydro stations or wind farms – which have been independently verified as producing 100% renewable electricity.
Certified is an accredited product that completely changes the carbon reporting and offsetting game for New Zealand businesses. It enables your business to report its market-based Scope 2 emissions – the ones linked to your electricity usage – as zero.*
Choosing Certified is a simple decision that makes a real difference. It shows your customers, employees, partners, stakeholders and communities that you care about the future of Papatūānuku.
*Using the market-based reporting methodology as per the GHG Protocol’s Scope 2 Guidance.
Want to know more? Let’s talk.
Meridian’s Certified Renewable Energy product was created for businesses that want to show they care about the future of our planet by demonstrating their commitment to taking climate action.
We’re in this together
Just like your business, at Meridian we’re committed to doing good things with our energy. And we’re passionate about using electrification to help New Zealand decarbonise and move towards a net-zero carbon future. So, we’re using the net proceeds from Certified to reinvest it back into projects that will help the decarbonisation of Aotearoa.
Projects like EV charger installation, process heat electrification and installation of solar panels – that help reduce carbon emissions in real, tangible ways.
We're excited to work with like-minded companies who have projects on the horizon that focus on decarbonisation and we’re also looking at supporting community-based decarbonisation initiatives. Because reducing Aotearoa’s carbon emissions is going to be a challenge and together, we’re stronger.
If you’re a business or community organisation with a decarbonisation plan or project in mind, we’re keen to see how we can support you through our Community Decarbonisation Fund.
Let’s get technical
In New Zealand, electricity is distributed from the national grid. The national grid mixes electricity from Meridian’s renewable generation sites with every other source of electricity generated, including other renewable and non-renewable sources.
So, all homes and businesses connected to the grid get some non-renewable energy alongside the 100% renewable energy we generate.
The New Zealand Energy Certificate System (NZECS) issues Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to Meridian for the amount of renewable energy generated by Meridian’s certified hydro stations and wind farms. These RECs are then allocated to customers based on the amount of electricity used by them on an annual basis.
Essentially, the electricity you use is matched annually to the equivalent amount of electricity generated by one of Meridian’s certified hydro stations or wind farms which use 100% renewable sources.
The NZECS also oversee the redemption of these RECs to ensure that the correct number of certificates matches all the electricity used in the operation of the business (on an annual basis).
Why Certified?
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Zero Scope 2 emissions
Certified enables you to report your market-based Scope 2 emissions – those ones linked to your electricity usage – as zero.*
*Using the market-based reporting methodology as per the GHG Protocol’s Scope 2 Guidance. -
Fixed cost
Certified is available to businesses at a fixed cost for the term of your contract. No surprises here.
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It meets the global standard
NZECS has been assessed and is accepted by RE100 and by Toitū Envirocare under their carbon reduce programme as meeting the GHG Protocol’s Scope 2 Guidance for a market-based mechanism.
Certified in action
Does Certified sound like something that’s right for your business? You’ll be in good company. Wellington brewery Garage Project became a Certified customer in 2019 when they launched their TurbineTM Pale Ale beer.
The Garage Project brewery is just four kilometres from Meridian’s Brooklyn Wind Turbine and while they couldn’t plug directly into the turbine itself, NZECS certifies that the electricity they get from the national grid is matched on an annual basis with 100% renewable energy generated from our certified hydro stations and wind farms.
“We can use Meridian’s Certified Renewable Energy mark to signify what we’re doing at the brewery, our commitment towards a sustainable path and brewing in a better way. I think it’s important to set an example and show you can be in business and do your bit for sustainability too. We can brew the beer we love, be sustainable, and at the same time celebrate Wellington, the city we love. Turbine Pale Ale is about all of these things.” – Jos Ruffell, Garage Project co-founder.