The Renewables Obligation Order 2015

Made: 26th November 2015

Coming into force in accordance with article 1

This Order is made by the Secretary of State in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 32 to 32K, 32LA and 32M of the Electricity Act 1989 (“the 1989 Act”) and section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 (“the 1972 Act”) (as read with paragraph 1A of Schedule 2 to the 1972 Act) .

The Secretary of State is a Minister designated for the purposes of section 2(2) of the 1972 Act in relation to energy and energy sources .

This Order makes provision for a purpose mentioned in section 2(2) of the 1972 Act and it appears to the Secretary of State that it is expedient for the references to Annex 5 to Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources in article 83 of and Schedules 1 and 3 to this Order to be construed as references to Annex 5 to that Directive as amended from time to time.

The Secretary of State has consulted the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority, the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, the Scottish Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux , electricity suppliers to whom this Order applies and such generators of electricity from renewable sources and other persons as the Secretary of State considered appropriate in accordance with section 32L(1) of the 1989 Act.

In exercising the power to make provision under section 32D(1) of the 1989 Act, the Secretary of State has had regard to the matters specified in section 32D(4).

In accordance with section 32L(2) of the 1989 Act, and paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 2 to the 1972 Act, a draft of this instrument was laid before Parliament and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

Accordingly the Secretary of State makes the following Order:

PART 1 — Introductory provisions

Citation, commencement and extent

1

• (1) This Order may be cited as the Renewables Obligation Order 2015.

• (2) Subject to paragraph (3), this Order comes into force on the first day of the month following that in which it is made.

• (3) Articles 45(4)(d) and (5)(a) and 48 come into force on the first day of the second month following that in which this Order is made.

• (4) Subject to paragraph (5), this Order extends to England and Wales only.

• (5) Article 97 also extends to Scotland.

Interpretation

2

• (1) In this Order—

• “the Act” means the Electricity Act 1989 ;

• “2009 Order” means the Renewables Obligation Order 2009 ;

• “2013/14 capacity” means—in relation to a generating station accredited on or before 31st March 2013, any capacity which, in the Authority's view—forms part of the station from a date no earlier than 1st April 2013 and no later than 31st March 2014, anddoes not form part of the original capacity of the station,in relation to a grace period generating station, any capacity which, in the Authority's view—forms part of the station from a date no later than 31st March 2014, anddoes not form part of the original capacity of the station,in relation to a generating station which—was not accredited on or before 31st March 2013,was accredited on or before 31st March 2014, andis not a grace period generating station,the original capacity of the station, together with any additional capacity which, in the Authority's view, forms part of the station from a date no later than 31st March 2014;

• “2013/15 capacity” means any capacity which is 2013/14 capacity or 2014/15 capacity;

• “2014/15 capacity” means—in relation to a generating station accredited on or before 31st March 2014, any capacity which, in the Authority's view—forms part of the station from a date no earlier than 1st April 2014 and no later than 31st March 2015, anddoes not form part of the original capacity of the station,in relation to a generating station which—was not accredited on or before 31st March 2014, andwas accredited on or before 31st March 2015,the original capacity of the station, together with any additional capacity which, in the Authority's view, forms part of the station from a date no later than 31st March 2015;

• “2015/16 capacity” means—in relation to a generating station accredited on or before 31st March 2015, any capacity which, in the Authority's view—forms part of the station from a date no earlier than 1st April 2015 and no later than 31st March 2016, anddoes not form part of the original capacity of the station,in relation to a generating station which—was not accredited on or before 31st March 2015, andwas accredited on or before 31st March 2016,the original capacity of the station, together with any additional capacity which, in the Authority's view, forms part of the station from a date no later than 31st March 2016;

• “accreditation”, in relation to a generating station, means accreditation of the station as one which is capable of generating electricity from renewable sources by the Authority or the Northern Ireland authority (and includes an accreditation granted before this Order came into force);

• “accredited” is to be construed in accordance with the definition of “accreditation”;

• “advanced fuel” means a liquid or gaseous fuel which is produced directly or indirectly from the gasification or the pyrolysis of—waste, orbiomass;

• “anaerobic digestion” means the bacterial fermentation of organic material in the absence of free oxygen;

• “ancillary purposes”, in relation to fossil fuel or waste used in a combustion unit or by a generating station, means fossil fuel or waste which is used in that combustion unit or by the station for—cleansing other fuels from the station's combustion system prior to using fossil fuel or waste to heat the combustion system to its normal temperature,the heating of the station's combustion system to its normal operating temperature or the maintenance of that temperature,the ignition of fuels of low or variable calorific value,corrosion control,emission control,fouling reduction, orstandby generation or the testing of standby generation capacity (where “standby generation” means the generation of electricity by equipment which is not used frequently or regularly to generate electricity and where all the electricity generated by that equipment is used by the generating station);

• “animal excreta” means excreta produced by animals and includes biomass wholly derived from excreta produced by animals;

• “biomass” is to be construed in accordance with article 3, except for the purposes of article 95;

• “biomaterial” means the biodegradable part of—products, waste and residues of biological origin resulting from agriculture (including vegetal and animal substances), forestry and related industries (including fisheries and aquaculture), andindustrial, commercial and municipal waste;

• “BS EN 15359:2011” means the document identified by Standard Number BS EN:15359:2011 and entitled “Solid recovered fuels. Specifications and classes” published by the British Standards Institution on 30th November 2011 ;

• “BS EN 15402:2011” means the document identified by Standard Number BS EN 15402:2011 and entitled “Solid recovered fuels. Determination of the content of volatile matter” published by the British Standards Institution on 31st March 2011 ;

• “BS EN 15415-1:2011” means the document identified by Standard Number BS EN 15415-1:2011 and entitled “Solid recovered fuels. Determination of particle size distribution. Screen method for small dimension particles” published by the British Standards Institution on 30th September 2011 ;

• “BS EN 15590:2011” means the document identified by Standard Number BS EN 15590:2011 and entitled “Solid recovered fuels. Determination of the current rate of aerobic microbial activity using the real dynamic respiration index” published by the British Standards Institution on 30th September 2011 ;

• “CFD” has the meaning given in section 6(2) of the Energy Act 2013 ;

• “CHPQA” means the Combined Heat and Power Quality Assurance Standard, Issue 6, October 2016 and Guidance Note 44 (Use of CHPQA in respect of the Renewables Obligation and Contracts for Difference), Issue 6, October 2016;

• “CHP station” means a station which generates electricity and is (or may be) operated for purposes including the supply to any premises of—heat produced in association with electricity, orsteam produced from, or air or water heated by, such heat;

• “civil works”, in relation to a hydro generating station, means all man-made structures, and man-made works for holding water which are located on the inlet side of a turbine (“turbine A”), excluding any such structures or works which supply another turbine before water is supplied to the structures and works which supply turbine A;

• “combustion unit” means a boiler, turbine or engine;

• “commissioned”, in relation to a generating station, means the completion of such procedures and tests in relation to that station as constitute, at the time they are undertaken, the usual industry standards and practices for commissioning that type of generating station in order to demonstrate that that generating station is capable of commercial operation;

• “connected person”, in relation to the owner or operator of a generating station, or any party to a NFFO arrangement, means any person connected to that owner, operator or party within the meaning of section 1122 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 ;

• “declared net capacity”, in relation to a generating station, means the maximum capacity at which the station could be operated for a sustained period without causing damage to it (assuming the source of power used by it to generate electricity was available to it without interruption) less the amount of electricity that is consumed by the station;

• “delivery body” means—the person operating the national transmission system for Great Britain (“the national system operator”), orif the national system operator's functions under Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the Energy Act 2013 have been transferred to an alternative delivery body, that body;

• “designated electricity supplier” has the meaning given by article 7(1);

• “EII excluded electricity” means electricity which constitutes EII excluded electricity within the meaning of regulation 6(1) of the Electricity Supplier Obligations (Amendment & Excluded Electricity) Regulations 2015;

• “energy content”, in relation to any substance, means the energy contained within that substance (whether measured by a calorimeter or determined in some other way) expressed in terms of the substance's gross calorific value within the meaning of British Standard BS 7420:1991 (Guide for determination of calorific values of solid, liquid and gaseous fuels (including definitions)) published by the British Standard Institute on 28th June 1991 ;

• “energy crops” means—a perennial crop planted at high density, the stems of which are harvested above ground level at intervals of less than twenty years and which is one of the following—Acer pseudoplatanus (also known as sycamore),Alnus (also known as alder),Betula (also known as birch),Castanea sativa (also known as sweet chestnut),Corylus avellana (also known as hazel),Fraxinus excelsior (also known as ash),Populus (also known as poplar),Salix (also known as willow),Tilia cordata (also known as small-leaved lime); ora perennial crop which is one of the following—Arundo donax (also known as giant reed),Bambuseae, where the crop was planted after 31st December 1989 and is grown primarily for the purpose of being used as fuel,Miscanthus,Panicum,Pennisetum (other than Pennisetum setaceum (also known as fountain grass), Pennisetum clandestinum (also known as kikuyu grass) and Pennisetum villosum (also known as feathertop grass)),Phalaris;

• “excluded capacity” has the meaning given in article 45;

• “feed-in tariff scheme” means a scheme of financial incentives which the Secretary of State establishes, or for the administration of which the Secretary of State makes arrangements, in exercise of the power in section 41(1) of the Energy Act 2008 ;

• “fossil derived bioliquid” means bioliquid produced directly or indirectly from—coal,lignite,natural gas (within the meaning of the Energy Act 1976 ),crude liquid petroleum, orpetroleum products (within the meaning of the Energy Act 1976);

• “forest” means land of an area more than one hectare which includes trees providing a tree canopy cover of at least 20%;

• “gasification” means the substoichiometric oxidation or steam reformation of a substance to produce a gaseous mixture containing two or all of the following: oxides of carbon, methane and hydrogen;

• “grace period generating station” has the meaning given by article 6;

• “greenhouse gas criteria” means—in the case of bioliquid, the criteria set out in Schedule 1,in all other cases, the criteria set out in Part 1 of Schedule 2;

• “hydro generating station” means a generating station driven by water (other than a generating station driven by tidal flows, waves, ocean currents or geothermal sources) and includes all turbines supplied with water by or from the same civil works, except any turbine driven by a compensation flow supplied by or from those civil works in a natural water course where there is a statutory obligation to maintain that compensation flow in that water course (in which case that turbine and associated infrastructure is to be regarded as a separate hydro generating station);

• “interconnector” means so much of an electric line or other electric plant as subsists wholly or primarily for the purposes of the conveyance of electricity between a transmission or distribution system in Great Britain and an equivalent system in another country (including Northern Ireland);

• “investment contract” has the meaning given in paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the Energy Act 2013 ;

• “ISAE 3000” means the International Standard on Assurance Engagements 3000 Revised, Assurance Engagements Other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information published by the International Federation of Accountants;

• “land criteria” means the criteria set out in Schedule 3;

• “landfill” has the meaning given by Article 2(g) of Council Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste ;

• “landfill gas” means gas formed by the digestion of material in a landfill;

• “linked person”, in relation to a person who is a party to a NFFO arrangement (“the first person”), means another person who has given or who has arranged to give to the first person or has ensured or arranged to ensure that the first person is given, a financial or other inducement relating to any right or interest in, or in respect of, the construction or operation of a generating station at the location;

• “microgenerator” means a generating station which has a declared net capacity of 50 kilowatts or less;

• “municipal waste” has the same meaning as in section 21 of the Waste and Emissions Trading Act 2003 ;

• “NFFO arrangement” means an arrangement which was originally made pursuant to a Non-Fossil Fuel Order (and includes any replacement of such an arrangement where that replacement was made pursuant to an order made under section 67 of the Utilities Act 2000 );

• “NIRO Order” means any order made under Articles 52 to 55F of the Energy (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 ;

• “Non-Fossil Fuel Order” means any of the following Orders—the Electricity (Non-Fossil Fuel Sources) (England and Wales) Order 1997 , andthe Electricity (Non-Fossil Fuel Sources) (England and Wales) Order 1998 ;

• “Northern Ireland certificate” means a renewables obligation certificate issued by the Northern Ireland authority under the Energy (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 and pursuant to a NIRO Order;

• “obligation period” means the period starting on 1st April 2016 and ending on 31st March 2017 or any subsequent period of 12 months (ending with the period of 12 months ending on 31st March 2037), except for the purposes of article 95;

• “offshore”, in relation to a generating station which generates electricity from wind, means a generating station which—has its wind turbines situated wholly in offshore waters, andis not connected to dry land by means of a permanent structure which provides access to land above the mean low water mark;

• “offshore waters” means—waters in or adjacent to the United Kingdom which are between the mean low water mark and the seaward limits of the territorial sea, andwaters within an area designated under section 1(7) of the Continental Shelf Act 1964 ;

• “offshore wind turbine” means a wind turbine which forms part of a generating station which is offshore;

• “on land”, in relation to the location of a generating station, means wholly or partly on land above mean high water level;

• “original capacity”, in relation to a generating station, means the generating capacity of the station as accredited;

• “permitted ancillary purposes” means—in relation to fossil fuel or waste used in a combustion unit, the use of fossil fuel or waste—in the combustion unit for ancillary purposes, andin a month in which the energy content of the fossil fuel or waste so used (or, where both are so used, their combined energy content) does not exceed 10% of the energy content of all the energy sources used in the combustion unit to generate electricity during that month,in relation to fossil fuel or waste used by a generating station, the use of fossil fuel or waste—by the station for ancillary purposes, andin a month in which the energy content of the fossil fuel or waste so used (or, where both are so used, their combined energy content) does not exceed 10% of the energy content of all the energy sources used by the station to generate electricity during that month;

• ...

• “plant”, with reference to plant matter, includes shrubs and trees;