Sale of Flemish green certificates and CHP certificates to Elia
The Flemish government has developed a scheme requiring system operators to purchase green certificates or CHP certificates at a guaranteed minimum price.
Elia's role
As a transmission system operator or local transmission system operator, Elia is bound by public service obligations and is therefore required to purchase green certificates and combined heat and power certificates from any green power producer that asks it to do so. The information provided here concerns certificates issued by the Flemish regulator, VREG. Under Article 7.1.6 and 7.1.7 of the Decree laying down general provisions concerning energy policy (the Energy Decree), system operators must purchase green certificates and/or combined heat and power certificates from power producers whose facilities are connected to their grids or to a closed distribution system connected to their grids, provided the power producers ask them to do so. This means that Elia, in its capacity as the local transmission system operator, must apply Flemish minimum support payments to generation facilities connected to the local 70 kV to 30 kV transmission system in the Flemish Region. The amount of these minimum support payments is set on the basis of the energy source and generation technology used and the date of commissioning. The date of commissioning also determines how long minimum support must be paid.
Procedure
1. Create new installation on the VREG platform
1.1 PV-installations (photovoltaic)
Owners of a PV installation must first register in order to access the VREG certificate database (the VREG platform). For this, an application must be submitted to Elia by e-mail to cs@elia.be stating the company's Registration number, an e-mail address with which the company wishes to log in to the platform and the application form (steuncertificaten PV), together with the GREI (General Regulation on Electrical Installations) report, regardless of whether the certificates are sold to Elia at the Flemish minimum support or not.
Elia creates the installation on the VREG platform and the company will receive a registration link from Elia to log in to the VREG platform.
1.2 Other technologies (wind, biogas, biomass, CHP)
The Flemish Energy Agency (VEA) creates the installation on the VREG platform. The application for obtaining certificates must be submitted via the online platform Expertbase of the VEA (in Dutch).
The flow chart below provides a general overview of the applicable procedure.
2. Sale of green certificates and/or CHP certificates with minimum support to Elia
Green and/or CHP certificates can only be sold to Elia if the installation has been created on the VREG platform (see point 1).
Before selling support certificates to Elia, the beneficiary of the certificates submits the application form for a green or CHP certificate contract (aanvraagformulier voor de opmaak van een overeenkomst groenestroom- of warmte-krachtcertificaten), fully completed and signed to Elia by email to cs@elia.be, together with the final decision note from the Flemish Energy Agency (VEA). This decision note includes the application of Article 6.1.2 of the Energy Decree.
Invoicing process
Once it has sold its green certificates or CHP certificates to Elia, the producer sends an invoice based on the example below to Elia by post (Elia Transmission Belgium SA, Supplier Accounts, Boulevard de l'Empereur 20, 1000 Brussels) or email (Invoice_GCV@elia.be – invoice must be in PDF format).
