ACCU Scheme schematic

There are two components to participating in the ACCU Scheme

Before you consider registering your project, find out if you are eligible to participate in the ACCU Scheme using the interactive questionnaire. The questionnaire allows you to determine if your project meets the scheme’s eligibility requirements.
Select a suitable project method
Ensure you understand the reporting and auditing requirements for your project method
Are you eligible to register?
Plan your project including
- cost and benefit analysis
- capability and skill requirements
- monitoring and record keeping systems
- risk analysis, and
- determine project structure (for example, single project or aggregated project).

Apply to register your project by setting up a client portal account, completing the registration application and providing:
- Australian Federal Police police check
- forward abatement estimate
- complete eligible interest holder consent form (if required).
Open your Australian national registry of emissions units (ANREU) account with bank details.
Once your registration application is assessed and approved project details will be published on the Emissions Reduction Fund register.
A declaration of registration will be provided to you along with an audit schedule, according to scheme and audit requirements, including:

Run your project as per the project method, including adherence to the specific instructions for the calculation of abatement and other information required to be reported.
Report on your project. Reports must meet method requirements and include calculation of actual abatement achieved in the reporting period. You may report as frequently as the method allows but a minimum of once every two years for emissions avoidance and once every five years for sequestration.
Reports must include audit reports where scheduled. An initial audit report is required with the first project report. Additional audits can be triggered.

Apply to claim ACCUs. Application can be made at the same time as report is provided.
Your claim and report will be assessed to ensure compliance with Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011, rules, regulations and method.
ACCUs issued into your ANREU account once report and claim are approved.

Once issued into your ANREU account you can choose to hold or sell your ACCUs.
You may choose to sell all or some of your ACCUs to the government through a carbon abatement contract. ACCUs are transferred to the Clean Energy Regulator's ANREU account to meet contract obligations.
You may sell all or some of your ACCUs into the secondary market under a private commercial agreement. This market is not regulated or controlled by the government.

Bidding to sell ACCUs through a carbon abatement contract is optional and can occur at any time following project registration.

If you have registered your project, you are eligible to apply to enter into a carbon abatement contract with the Clean Energy Regulator to sell your Australian carbon credit units (ACCUs) through an auction process.

Standard: 7 or 10 years (projects that have a crediting period of 10 years or more can apply for a contract period of up to 10 years)
Short term: less than 7 years
Immediate: single delivery of ACCUs made within a few days of a successful bid.

Must be able to deliver minimum 2000 t/CO₂-e per annum for contract period (unless project registered prior to Dec 13 2014).

You agree to the commercial and delivery terms of the contract before the auction. If your bid is successful at auction, you are contracted to deliver your agreed quantity of ACCUs according to the delivery schedule that you set.
Auction qualiﬁcation
Complete application no later than 20 business days prior to auction. Must have a registered project (or project under assessment).
- agree to code of common terms and commercial terms.
- apply for account in the online bidding platform
Auction registration
Complete application no later than five business days prior to Auction.
- agree to delivery terms including total ACCUs, contract period and delivery schedule. Nominate authorised bidder.
Auction bid
Complete via online bidding platform. Your auction bid determines the ﬁnancial terms and the contract commences within five business days of an accepted bid.

You must transfer required ACCUs from your ANREU account to the government to meet your contract conditions.
Delivery failure
If you anticipate failure to deliver the required ACCUs set out in your contract, you must contact the Clean Energy Regulator to negotiate a revised delivery schedule. Generally, a delivery schedule can be revised to allow for up to 20 percent under delivery.
You have the option to deliver ACCUs from other sources to meet any shortfall in contracted ACCUs.