Green Gas Support Scheme and Green Gas Levy

We calculate payments using information provided by participants on a quarterly basis (referred to as periodic data).  

Scheme participants must provide periodic data in the format requested in order to receive payment. The information includes:

•    volume of biomethane that has been injected, 

•    gross calorific value (GCV) of the gas injected 

•    any heat that has been supplied to the anaerobic digestion process

•    any heat supplied to the anaerobic digester from an external source  

•    a declaration stating the level of interaction with the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO)

Scheme participants must only produce biomethane that meets the sustainability requirements of the scheme. The sustainability requirements are:

• The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Criteria: Eligible biomethane must have lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions less than or equal to 24g CO2(eq) per megajoule of biomethane injected. Participants must provide a GHG value for the biomethane produced, even where it is produced wholly from waste. See our GGSS Guidance for details of how the GHG values should be calculated and reported.
• The Land Criteria: The land criteria applies to feedstocks which are solid biomass, and considers factors associated with the land from which the biomass was sourced, such as the protection of ecosystems and the environment from which the biomass is sourced and compliance with sustainable forestry management practices. See our GGSS Guidance for details of how the land criteria should be reported against.

Participants must report on the sustainability of their biomethane each quarter.

Annual Sustainability Audit Report

In addition, participants must submit a sustainability audit report each scheme year prepared in accordance with the requirements given in GGSS Guidance. This sustainability reporting must cover each consignment of biomethane produced during the preceding 12-month period.

The sustainability requirements and form of the report required set out in the Regulations, also see our GGSS Guidance document (chapter 8)

It is important that participants understand the classification of their feedstocks as it can affect both the GHG and land reporting requirements. 

Declarations

Once registered, participants must provide a number of regular declarations during their registration on the GGSS. Failure to provide these declarations will be considered a non-compliance with ongoing obligations.  The declarations include:

• Quarterly declarations – required to confirm the biomethane produced meets the sustainability requirements set out in the regulations.
• Interaction with the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) required quarterly to ensure that periodic support payments and Renewable Transport Fuel Certificate will not be claimed for the same biomethane. A template is available in Annex 1 of our GGSS Guidance.
• Annual declarations to confirm compliance with relevant ongoing obligations.

You must notify us if:

• any information provided as part of your application to the scheme was/is incorrect
• you become aware later that the information submitted as part of your application was incorrect or
• information provided as part of your application changes
• you have ceased to comply with an ongoing obligation (within 28 days).