Nowadays there is scarcely a product for sale – from a baby’s dummy right through to a coffin – that is not checked prior to its application. In the mix are laws, norms and regulations that are intended to safeguard the safety of us consumers. But, what is the situation with electricity?
As well as being VERBUND employees, many of us are also VERBUND electricity customers. Even without employee discounts, we are confident in the clear conscience of using clean electricity from renewable sources. However, one question that is always asked of us as customers and employees alike is the issue concerning the examining of electricity: Who actually checks the electricity?
Why is control important?
The background to this is formed by the fact that today’s electricity is fed into a European "electricity lake" by many different sources. It is here, for example, that a 30-year-old nuclear power plant in Bavaria equally generates electricity as does a newly erected off-shore wind farm on the North Sea or a run-of-river power plant on the Danube. As soon as the electricity is fed in, it is no longer possible to retrace its origins and future path. It is for this reason that it is generally said that electricity has no label.
Electricity also has to show its true colours
However, even if electricity cannot be physically clearly retraced, cash flow is still an indirect possibility of having a say in the origins of our electricity. For, we are the ones who decide which electricity provider to support with our electricity bill. And, in our capacity as consumers, we decide whether to choose a provider who is going to use our money to advance the development of renewable energies or to use it continue to "restore" coal-fired and nuclear power plants.
Electricity companies must therefore also show their true colours today and, on the electricity bill, precisely explain to us customers from where the consumed electricity originates. This has led to the fact that electricity suppliers must also take a closer look at where they are obtaining the electricity. For many suppliers only generate a small amount of electricity themselves and are unable to supply their customers consistently throughout the entire year from their small amount of own production.
The crux with the RECs
One way in which to provide the proof of origin is the EU regulation EU-RL 2001/77/EG. By means of this regulation it can be verified that a certain amount of electricity has, at one time, been produced from renewable energies. Serving as proof of this is a corresponding certificate – the so-called REC (renewable energy certificate). However, the certificate may be resold – and, namely, independent of the amount of electricity that is physically delivered. In other words, a small electricity provider with a coal-fired power plant could, through the purchase of an REC, "prove" to his customers that the delivered electricity originates from renewable energies. Unfortunately, this "deceptive packaging" is widespread.
Revival of the seal of quality
It is for this reason that seals of quality have simultaneously been developed, using strict control criteria to thoroughly probe the electricity suppliers. A recognised player on the control sector is the technical inspectorate TÜV SÜD.
Every year, TÜV also inspects VERBUND from the source (production) right through to the customers’ electrical sockets. In the process, the important thing here is adherence to the specifications of its criteria catalogue and the further declarations made by the electricity supplier. TÜV SÜD also controls whether or not more certified electricity is being sold than has actually been produced in the power plants.
Strict criteria ensure a high performance
The most important characteristic for the provision of electricity from renewable energies in accordance with the TÜV SÜD "RE" (renewable energy) criteria are:
The electricity originates 100% from renewable energies.
At least 25% of the delivered quantity originates from new power plants.
The surcharges are used for the development of renewable energies.
The characteristic for the provision of electricity from renewable energies in accordance with RE +:
The electricity originates 100% from hydropower.
The generated amount is preferably used by the customer upon delivery (within a quarter of an hour).
The surcharges are used for the development of renewable energies.
The promotion of renewable energies
In both cases, the promotion and verifiable development of renewable energies must represent an important goal of the company policy. And it is precisely the listed criteria that also differentiate from other electricity providers in Germany and Austria: With every kilowatt hour of certified hydropower, VERBUND customers are contributing to making the European electricity lake a bit more environmentally friendly. Every year, VERBUND invests several million Euro just in increasing the efficiency of existing power plants.
As early as 1999, VERBUND was the first Austrian energy provider company to get its entire hydropower production certified by TÜV SÜD and therewith significantly co-develop the identification of the origin of electricity in Austria.
Today, all 123 VERBUND hydropower plants are certified by TÜV-SÜD. In contrast, 95 % of all power plants in Europe continue to deliver electricity of "unknown origin".