4-minute read
If you own rooftop solar in Singapore or Malaysia, your panels make two things. The first is electricity. The second is a certificate that proves the power was renewable. That certificate can be sold.
What a REC is
A renewable energy certificate (REC) is a tracking record. One certificate stands for one megawatt-hour (MWh) of renewable electricity.
A REC backs a renewable claim. It does not add renewable energy to the grid. It records who has the right to say a given MWh was renewable.
In Singapore and Malaysia, we recommend the I-REC Standard for electricity. I-RECs there are currently issued by The Green Certificate Company (GCC), the I-TRACK Foundation’s default Issuer. Systems on Malaysia’s Feed-in Tariff may not be eligible.
If your system is on another registry, such as TIGRs, check with us before you register new output.
Step 1: Register your solar system
Before any certificate is issued, your system has to be registered as a “production device”.
Under the I-REC rules, only a Registrant can register a device with the local Issuer and ask for certificates. A Registrant is the device owner or someone acting for them (I-TRACK, Product Code for Electricity).
You need metered generation data. That is how the Issuer knows how many MWh to certify.
Step 2: Get certificates issued
After registration, you request issuance for the power you have already generated. The certificates go into a trade account. From there, they can be moved, sold or retired.
Step 3: Choose: sell or keep
You have two options. You cannot do both with the same MWh.
Keep and retire them. You retire the certificates in your own name. Then you can report that solar power as renewable in your Scope 2 emissions, under the GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance.
Sell them. A buyer pays you for the certificates and retires them in their name. You may earn some income. REC prices vary by market and buyer, and a sale is not guaranteed. If you sell RECs, you give up the renewable claim for that power. The claim now belongs to the buyer.
If you sell the RECs, don’t describe your site as solar-powered or renewable-powered for that power. Report it as grid power in your market-based Scope 2 (GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance).
Decide this before you sell, with your sustainability reporting in mind.
Keep your RECs only if reporting the renewable use drives a real business goal: a stronger brand, more marketing value, or winning contracts from customers who want their suppliers to cut emissions (their Scope 3). Otherwise, selling RECs doesn’t have to be bad. You only lose the right to say you use renewable power from that output. The revenue can help fund more emission cuts. SATS, for example, says in its FY2022-23 report that its solar RECs “have been monetised to create a fund channelled back to the business units to further support carbon abatement projects” (SATS Sustainability Report FY2022-23, p. 20).
Your solar already saves you power costs
RECs can add some income on top of your power savings. The amount depends on REC prices at the time and is not guaranteed. Fees, registry and metering costs may take up some or all of the REC income.
In Singapore, you can be paid for excess solar you export. Depending on your account type and system size, this is through SP Group’s Simplified Credit Treatment, SP Services’ Enhanced Central Intermediary Scheme, or registering with EMC (see EMA). Malaysia has its own export and offset schemes, and those rules differ.
Selling RECs does not change your power savings. It only moves the renewable claim.
RECs and carbon tax in Singapore
Keeping or selling RECs does not change the carbon tax you pay. Singapore’s carbon tax applies to facilities that emit 25,000 tonnes of CO2e or more a year, including power stations (NCCS, Carbon Tax). Power companies can pass this cost on in electricity tariffs, so it can show up in your power bill (same NCCS page).
How Reduc helps
We handle the paperwork end to end:
- Register your solar system and get certificates issued.
- Sell them by tender to our buyer network, or retire them for you.
Ask us
Tell us your system size and where it is. We will tell you what it takes to register it and your options to sell or keep the RECs.
