How to buy renewable energy certificates: what to check before you purchase, unbundled RECs versus long-term contracts, and how Innovo handles transfer, retirement and settlement across registries.
Talk to us about buying RECsTwo RECs can look identical on a quote and count very differently in your reporting. These details decide whether a certificate meets your goal.
The year the power was generated. Voluntary programs cap how old a REC can be; Green-e, for example, has a 21-month vintage window.
Where the project sits and which tracking system issued the certificate, such as PJM-GATS, M-RETS, WREGIS, NEPOOL or NYGATS.
Solar, wind, hydro or other sources, and the commercial operation date, which tells you how new the project is.
Compliance RECs meet a state's renewable portfolio standard. Voluntary RECs back corporate goals such as Scope 2 reporting or RE100.
New to the terms? See the REC glossary.
The right route depends on your scale, the markets you can reach and how much contract risk you want to carry.
Certificates bought separately from the electricity. The most flexible route: you can match your grid consumption with renewable generation elsewhere, whatever your supplier or location.
Long-term contracts with a renewable project that deliver RECs, and sometimes power, over years. More price certainty, more contract commitment.
Buy forward to lock in price and volume for compliance deadlines or reporting commitments, then use the spot market to fill gaps.
Go deeper in our buyer's guide to RECs and REC procurement strategies.
Buying is the easy part. Solas, Innovo's REC operations platform, handles what comes after: moving certificates between registries, retiring them and settling the payment.
Registry Gateway connects M-RETS, WREGIS, NEPOOL, PJM-GATS, NYGATS and more using your existing credentials. No new accounts, no change of ownership.
Move and retire certificates from one place instead of line by line in each registry, with matching and confirmation built in.
Cash and certificates settle together, so a REC trade is not paid for before the certificates arrive.
Every transfer, retirement and registry action is logged, and exports are ready for audits and compliance reporting.
Read how Solas replaces separate registry logins, or see REC settlement on the Solutions page.
Decide whether you need compliance or voluntary RECs, then choose the attributes that matter for your claim: vintage, location, registry and technology. RECs can be bought unbundled through brokers, energy suppliers or project developers, or through a power purchase agreement. Once purchased, the certificates are transferred into your registry account and retired to make the claim.
Unbundled RECs are sold separately from the electricity they represent. They let an organization match its grid electricity use with renewable generation elsewhere, regardless of its energy supplier or location.
It depends on the market. Voluntary RECs, where supply is plentiful, can sell for a couple of dollars. Compliance RECs in states with tight renewable portfolio standards can exceed twenty dollars each. Vintage, location, technology and certification such as Green-e also move the price.
Compliance RECs are used by utilities and suppliers to meet state renewable portfolio standards. Voluntary RECs are bought by companies to back renewable electricity claims under frameworks such as the GHG Protocol and RE100.
The certificates are transferred to your registry account and then retired, which permanently records that you have claimed them. Innovo's Solas platform handles transfers and retirements across registries and keeps an audit trail of each step.
Planning a REC purchase?
Talk to our team