Renewable electricity, the facts
Report zero carbon emissions from your purchased electricity
Modern carbon reporting standards like the GHG Protocol require organisations to base their carbon emissions reporting on the choice they make for their electricity purchases (called “market-based emissions”), as well as their grid connection (called “location-based emissions”). The idea is that using both numbers gives a fairer, more complete picture of an organisation’s efforts to reduce its carbon emissions by choosing to purchase low-carbon electricity or being more energy efficient.
With our renewable electricity options, your organisation’s electricity supply is backed by certified renewable generation sources which all have a zero emissions rating. That takes your marketbased carbon emissions to zero, and with climate change now a mainstream issue, that can only help your business.
Available for both fixed and flexible price supply contracts, our renewable options are backed by REGOs (Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origins). The REGO scheme is administered by Ofgem and is used to provide transparency to consumers about the proportion of electricity that suppliers source from renewable generation in the UK.
- Each megawatt-hour (MWh) is evidenced by a REGO.
- The purpose of the certificate is to prove that a given share of energy was produced from renewable sources.
Compare your options
How our renewable supply options compare with our Zero Carbonfor Businessand standard offers
Modern carbon reporting standards encourage businesses to use their choice of electricity supply to support their environmental commitments.
We offer three electricity source choices:
- Standard: backed by all electricity generation technologies from lower carbon renewables and nuclear, to higher carbon coal and gas.
- Renewable: backed by Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGOs).
- Zero Carbon for Business: backed by nuclear generation.(formerly Blue for Business)
Buying zero carbon does not create more zero carbon energy in the UK
It’s important to be clear about this. Whether you choose a zero carbon supply backed by renewable or nuclear energy, your purchase does not in itself cause any new zero carbon generation to be produced. The zero carbon electricity that we buy for Zero Carbon for Business or renewable products is supplied into the National Grid. Customers receive that electricity through the National Grid, not directly from zero carbon generators.
But your choice does show that your organisation is aware of the carbonintensity of the power it buys and is consistent with widely used standards and guidance in carbon accounting*. And that’s a step in the right direction.
Our fuel mix
On the 1st of October every year, we must publish details of the fuel sources that have been used to generate the electricity we supply to our customers.
We update the below table to show how much (%) of the energy we’ve purchased and supplied to our customers has come from each of the major energy sources in the previous year (between April and March). We also include the carbon emissions associated with its generation, and show how our fuel mix compares to the UK average fuel mix.
Our customers’ electricity is sourced from our own UK power stations, the wholesale energy market and other independent power generators. We are a major supporter of independent renewable generators.
The information in the table below covers our supply licence for EDF Energy Customers Ltd for the period from April 2022 to March 2023.Our fuel mix for the period April 2023 to March 2024 will be published on 1October 2024.
| Coal | Gas | Nuclear | Renewable | Other | CO2 g/kWh | Radioactive waste g/kWh | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EDF's fuel mix | 1.6% | 16.7% | 59.4% | 21.0% | 1.3% | 87 | 0.0042 |
| Contribution to our carbon emissions | 17.4% | 71.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 11.6% | ||
| UK average fuel mix | 3.4% | 39.3% | 13.9% | 40.8% | 2.6% | 186 | 0.0010 |
The figures for the UK average fuel mix are provided by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). Depending on the tariff you are on, the fuel source and the carbon emissions associated with the generation of your electricity may vary.
| EDF’s fuel mix per tariff or product | Coal | Gas | Nuclear | Renewable | Other | C02 g/kWh | Radioactive waste g/kWh |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zero carbon (1) | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0070 |
| Renewable (2) | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100% | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0000 |
| All other (3) | 2.9% | 30.4% | 57.9% | 6.5% | 2.3% | 159 | 0.0041 |
Product table
(1) Zero carbon: Zero carbon tariffs and products include any sold as ‘nuclear backed’, such as Zero Carbon for Business (formerly Blue for Business).
(2) Renewable: All renewable tariffs and products.
(3) All other: All other tariffs and products - tariffs not referred to as Zero Carbon or Renewable.
The nuclear backed and renewable electricity that we buy for Residential, SME, Zero Carbon for Business (formerly Blue for Business) or Renewable tariffs and products is supplied into the National Grid. Customers receive that electricity through the National Grid, not directly from zero-carbon generators.
