Issued December 10, 2024
Jump to: Overview | How to Apply | Timeline | Evaluation Criteria | FAQs | Additional Information
LevelTen Energy, Inc. is pleased to announce this Request for Proposals (RFP) on behalf of the new Registry Acceleration Fund. With support and funding from the Granular Certificate (GC) Trading Alliance, the Registry Acceleration Fund seeks to provide resources to address existing gaps in Energy Attribute Certificate (EAC) hourly tracking and transaction infrastructure in order to accelerate progress towards granular accounting of carbon-free energy (CFE), globally. Via this RFP, the Fund expects to award EAC registry operators, software providers, and other selected respondents in 2025 to support activities that accelerate modernization of EAC registry software and administration.
EAC registries play a key role in traceability of energy production by enabling the creation, transfer, and retirement of EACs. EACs provide a market instrument and pathway for energy consumers to begin to decarbonize their electricity usage and support the rapid buildout of new clean energy projects, and will continue to play a foundational role in the energy transition. However, as the EAC market has grown and renewable energy penetration has increased, new tools and approaches are needed to advance the transition to fully decarbonized power grids and improve the credibility of voluntary market claims. The lack of time- and location-based information for each EAC makes it difficult for buyers who want to fine tune their procurement strategy, for example, by matching consumption on an hourly basis, or procuring clean energy at the times and places where doing so will result in the largest emissions impact. Granular certification and tracking of EACs can provide transparency to understand where and when clean energy is most needed.
As noted by the 2023 Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) report, "Although hourly tracking cannot be implemented nationwide immediately, the majority of the existing U.S. REC tracking systems estimate a short phase-in period of 1–2 years once the decision to implement hourly tracking has been made.” Through this RFP, the Registry Acceleration Funds seeks to make this implementation a reality in the near-term.
The GC Trading Alliance is a collaboration with AES, Constellation, Google, and Microsoft, convened by LevelTen Energy and in partnership with the Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE), to develop a first-of-its-kind trading and management platform for GCs. The Alliance, in partnership with EAC registries, is building a software-based solution to enable energy buyers to efficiently source CFE generated around the clock, and to incentivize energy sellers to produce clean energy where and when it is most needed, delivering a carbon-free grid, faster. Through its work with the GC Trading Alliance, LevelTen has been monitoring the progress of registries in implementing time- and location-based tracking and GC trading.
LevelTen has also been following and participating in GC implementation efforts through EnergyTag, an independent nonprofit defining and promoting Net-Zero aligned electricity carbon accounting, enabled by the development of standards for hourly GC issuance and granular electricity matching using GCs. EnergyTag is a supporter of the GC Trading Alliance and has worked with 500+ organizations, with over 1 TWh of hourly tracking already performed in pilots, demonstrating significant traction in the potential value of EAC market modernization as renewables penetration grows. Stakeholders participating in the EnergyTag community include registries, power system operators, energy developers and suppliers, SaaS solution providers, energy trade associations and others, working together to develop GC issuance and utilization in an authoritative and credible manner as part of the solution set for accelerated decarbonization.
As demonstrated by a recent market survey led by LevelTen, there is growing and clear demand for GC implementation:
One GCTA member (Google), has also indicated that they intend to modify their registry strategy to align with accelerated developments for GC trading. Going forward, their contracts will specify and prioritize registries that offer hourly issuance and transfer capabilities and are either already integrated with the GC trading and management platform or have plans to do so.
Today, EAC registries are at different stages of implementing granular certificate issuance, and many registries do not have the full functionality to enable GC trading. This RFP seeks to support modernization of EAC registry software by making awards to registries of up to $1,000,000. We believe these upgrades are crucial to accommodate anticipated market growth and increasing granularity within the EAC ecosystem.
We are looking forward to hearing from you. Responses to this RFP will be accepted in accordance with the schedule below. Initial (Round 1) responses will be due by January 31, 2025; LevelTen expects to collect and review two additional rounds of submissions on April 25, 2025 and July 25, 2025, respectively. However, LevelTen requests that organizations considering responding to the Round 2 and 3 submission deadlines indicate their intent to respond to these later deadlines to LevelTen as soon as possible, so that this information can be taken into account in making the first set of awards following the Round 1 deadline.
Please submit your responses here.
| Step | Date | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | RFP issued | December 10 |
| 2 | First informational session to address questions | December 17, 2024 11am PT / 2pm ET |
| 3 | Second informational session to address questions | January 9, 2025 5:30am PT / 8:30am ET/ 1:30pm GMT |
| 4 | Deadline of submission of RFP responses. * Please express intent to submit a proposal for Rounds 2 and 3 by January 31, 2025.
|
Round 1: January 31, 2025 * Round 2 (expected): April 25, 2025 Round 3 (expected): July 25, 2025 |
| 5 | Respondents selected to proceed to the next phase will be notified. | Within 1 month of submission deadline |
| 6 | Further information requests and/or conversations with potential awardees. Notify selected respondents of intent to proceed with award agreements. | Within 2 months of submission deadline |
| 7 | Complete award agreements | Within 3 months of notification of intent to proceed (expected) |
The fund welcomes responses from all entities interested in addressing the technological needs of registry operators for global GC implementation, with a focus towards markets that have indicated greater near-term demand. This includes issuing bodies, existing registry operators, and new registry operators (for example, a national North American registry proposal to serve the voluntary markets). It also includes third-party software providers. We encourage creative collaboration amongst the ecosystem on joint submissions, for instance, teaming between tracking systems/registries partnering with third-party software providers and/or other partnerships. The Fund’s intent in issuing this RFP is to accelerate the implementation of standardized, scalable, and credible GC issuance to enable the development of GC trading. RFP responses will be evaluated based on the following, considered equally:
Coverage: Potential GC volumes and geographies covered.
Experience and Qualifications: Proven track record and relevant expertise.
Resource-Effectiveness: Budget competitiveness and overall value.
Timeline Feasibility: The realism of the proposed project timeline.
Adherence to Best Practices and Industry Standards: e.g. EnergyTag GC Scheme and Registry API.
Yes. Our recent Granular Certificate Market Readiness report showed that there is strong interest in GCs across the globe. While we found that certain markets may be ready to transact sooner than others, we recognize that there is global demand, and are considering applications that address unmet needs to meet that demand.
You will just need to submit one application in one round. Further information may be requested after an application is received.
We are open to organizations of all sizes. The strength of your application comes down to: how are you uniquely positioned to help address existing gaps in hourly tracking and transaction infrastructure?
Strong applications will showcase how they can modernize existing systems to support hourly capabilities for tracking systems and registries. Some examples may include making it easier for registries to implement the Energy Tag standard for GCs, to mint and issue GCs for buyers, or to accomplish other foundational work necessary to implement hourly tracking.
We are looking for a clear description of the technical challenge or opportunity you are trying to solve, and why this is important. You do not need to provide advanced technical details, but we are interested to know how your proposed project relates to best practices, energy industry standards, and existing registry operations.
We encourage an organization to submit a proposal that will address a significant opportunity for them to support modernization of EAC registry software of up to $1,000,000. We do not recommend an organization submit multiple proposals nor do we recommend a proposal that is outside the limit. The same thinking applies to the creative collaboration amongst the ecosystem on joint submissions: submit your most significant opportunity. We do not recommend an organization submit multiple joint proposals.
We are looking for opportunities that offer the most effective solution to close gaps in hourly tracking and transaction infrastructure. The Fund’s intent in issuing this RFP is to accelerate the implementation of standardized, scalable, and credible GC issuance to enable the development of GC trading. To that end, we suggest applicants focus their proposal on solutions that will provide the most impact with respect to that goal.
This initiative aims to accelerate the work of existing registries, and solutions should demonstrate how they would integrate with or enhance the existing registry ecosystem. As a reminder, one of the evaluation criteria is adherence to best practices and industry standards (e.g. EnergyTag GC Scheme and Registry API) to ensure integrity of these systems and minimize risk of double counting in order to support claims made with GCs. If you are a software provider submitting a proposal on behalf of a registry, your proposal should provide high level details about how your solution would integrate with one or more registries as well as how it adheres to best practices and industry standards. If the solution does not work directly with existing registries, there should be a clear justification for how the development would enhance the current system without compromising integrity.
RFP responses will be reviewed according to the above timeline by a committee established by LevelTen and the Fund. Awards will be determined and sized based on a review of the submission in accordance with the evaluation criteria set forth above and a needs assessment of the respondent.
Information submitted in response to this RFP will be treated as confidential. LevelTen and respondents may enter in a formal confidentiality agreement to cover information and communications exchanged in connection with the RFP and the award process.