
Starting with this fiscal year’s first non-fossil certificate (NFC) auction, which opened for bidding yesterday, August 22, 2024, all certificates will include information about the origin of the power the certificate covers. The Japan Electric Power Exchange (JEPX), on which NFCs are traded, also revised its trading fees from this month.
The origin information will include power plant name, type, and location, as well as information about whether or not the power plant has been in operation for less than 15 years. The last of those is a requirement for RE100 eligibility, which the initiative added this January. According to the initiative’s rules, with some exceptions, “Electricity must be sourced from power plants, either renewable generators commissioned or re-powered, under 15 years old.”
Until last fiscal year, origin information was provided for all NFCs associated with power generated at feed-in-tariff (FIT) certified power plants. It was also provided for select non-FIT NFCs upon request.
Along the above changes, the exchange also revised its NFC trading fees by increasing its annual membership fee from 120,000 yen to 600,000 yen but reducing its volume-based commission from 0.01 yen/kWh to 0.001 yen/kWh.
The ongoing NFC auction will be open for bidding until August 30, 2024. Three more rounds are expected to follow in November 2024, February 2025, and May 2025, respectively. The auctions cover NFCs associated with power generated this calendar year.