| Accreditation | A process of determining whether a power station is eligible to participate in the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target. |
Act, the | Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000. |
| Agent | A registered person who has been assigned the right to create certificates on behalf of owners of eligible small-scale system installations. |
| Air source heat pump | A system that draws heat from the air to heat water. Recognised as a solar water heater under the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme. |
| Assessment year | The period over which each annual target for the surrender of certificates by liable entities must be achieved, which, except for 2001, is a full calendar year. |
| Bagasse | Fibrous residue of the sugar cane milling process. |
| Baseline | The amount of electricity above which an accredited power station can begin to create renewable energy certificates for electricity generation, determined by the Clean Energy Regulator under the Regulations. |
| Biomass | Vegetable and animal-derived organic materials used in generating energy. The Act specifies types of biomass that are valid renewable energy sources under the Renewable Energy Target and excludes fossilised biomass. |
| Black liquor | The spent cooking liquor from the conversion of wood into wood pulp. |
| Deeming period | The expected life of a small-scale system, determined under the Regulations and used to calculate the number of small-scale technology certificates that can be created for the system. |
| Displacement | The estimated reduction in demand for electricity from the grid that results from the installation of a solar water heater. |
| Eligible parties | Parties that are eligible to create certificates for renewable electricity generated by accredited power stations or small-scale systems. |
| Enforceable undertaking | A written undertaking to take action to resolve breaches of legislation or take responsibility for conduct to improve compliance with legislative requirements. Breaches of such an undertaking may result in court action. |
| Generation year | The calendar year in which a unit of electricity was generated. |
| Gigawatt | One thousand megawatts. |
| GreenPower | A voluntary government accreditation program that supports investment in the renewable energy sector—greenpower.gov.au. |
| Kilowatt | One thousand watts. |
| kWh | Kilowatt hour—a measure of electricity generation or use (one thousand watt hours). |
| Kyoto Protocol | An international agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, established under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. |
| Large-scale generation certificate | A renewable energy certificate that may be created by the nominated person for each megawatt hour of eligible renewable electricity generated above the baseline of a renewable energy power station. |
| Liability | The requirement to surrender renewable energy certificates or pay a renewable energy shortfall charge, based on a wholesaler’s electricity acquisitions. |
| Liable entities | Entities that make wholesale acquisitions of electricity. |
| Megawatt | One thousand kilowatts. |
| MWh | Megawatt hour—a measure of electricity generation or use (one thousand kilowatt hours). |
| National Electricity Market | A wholesale exchange for electricity across the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria. |
| Nominated person | A person who has successfully applied for accreditation of a power station under the Act, and may be the owner, operator or a stakeholder of the power station. |
| Partial exemption certificate | A partial exemption from liability for a specified amount of electricity that is issued to a prescribed person who carries out an eligible emissions-intensive trade-exposed activity. |
| REC Registry | The Renewable Energy Certificate Registry, an online registry system used to manage renewable energy certificates—www.rec-registry.gov.au. |
| Reduced acquisitions | The amount worked out by subtracting the amount of a liable entity’s partial exemption (if any) from the total amount of electricity acquired during the assessment year by the liable entity under relevant acquisitions. |
| Registered person | A person registered under the Act and listed in the Register of Registered Persons. Only registered persons are able to create certificates. |
| Registration of certificates | The change in status that enables a certificate to be traded or surrendered, which results from providing sufficient information to support the validation of the certificate and paying a specified fee. |
| Regulations, the | Renewable Energy (Electricity) Regulations 2001. |
| Renewable energy certificate | A tradable instrument for acquitting liability under the Renewable Energy Target; includes large-scale generation certificates and small-scale technology certificates. |
| Renewable power percentage | The basis, set out in the Regulations, for calculating the number of large-scale generation certificates that a liable entity must purchase in a given year. |
| Secondary market | The market for renewable energy certificates that occurs between two entities not including the Clean Energy Regulator. |
| Shortfall charge | The charge payable where certificates were not surrendered by the annual reporting date or quarterly surrender period. Calculated under the Renewable Energy (Electricity) (Large-scale Generation Shortfall Charge) Act 2000 or the Renewable Energy (Electricity) (Small-scale Technology Shortfall Charge) Act 2010. |
| Small generation unit | A device that uses a hydro, wind or solar energy source to generate electricity within limits set out in the Regulations. |
| Small-scale system | A solar water heater or small generation unit that is potentially eligible for the creation of renewable energy certificates. |
| Small-scale technology certificate | A renewable energy certificate that may be created by the owner of a small-scale system, or their agent, for the generation of electricity by that system. |
| Small-scale technology percentage | The basis, set out in the Regulations, for calculating the number of small-scale technology certificates that a liable entity must purchase in a given year. |
| Solar credits | A mechanism that provided an additional financial incentive for solar panel installations by multiplying the number of certificates the systems could create. It operated between 9 June 2009 and 30 June 2013. |
| Solar water heater | A device that heats water using solar energy and satisfies the conditions set out in the Regulations. Includes solar hot water systems and air source heat pumps. |
| STC Clearing House | The Small-scale Technology Certificate Clearing House, a facility available in the REC Registry to allow the exchange of small-scale technology certificates at the fixed price of $40 (GST exclusive). |
| Surrender | The act of returning renewable energy certificates to the Clean Energy Regulator, at which point they are removed from the certificate market. May be ‘mandatory’ surrender to acquit liability or ‘voluntary’ surrender for any reason. |