The Callahuanca project was refurbishment by the energy utility last year, and the investment has attracted the benefit of carbon credits to supplement revenues. Endesa has sold approximately 20,000 verified emission reduction (VER) certificates due to the repowering project, undertaken by the group’s local subsidiary Edegel.
Endesa said that the VERs were calculated from the emission reductions gained at the plant due to the investment and, crucially, before it was registered under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) – the key carbon credit route under the Kyot Protocol. The carbon credits generated by this method are called Certificates of Emission Reduction (CERs).
As a consequence, the VERs cannot be counted against GHG reduction obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. Instead, they are viewed as a supplementary and voluntary method of trading carbon offsets.
Endesa said the trade was its first on the voluntary emission reduction market. The trade was facilitated by Spanish energy broker Wind 2 Market.
