As a sister system to REDcert, certification under the Sustainable Resources Verification Scheme (SURE) covers additional requirements for the production of forestry biomass and the generation of electricity, heat and cooling from solid and gaseous biomass. Since SURE and REDcert recognise each other, it is possible to certify relevant sections of the supply chain in combination in order to easily meet the sustainability requirements of several sales markets at once.
Legal background
With the revision of the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED II, 2018/2001/EC), the scope of application for compliance with biomass sustainability criteria has been expanded. Under RED II, it was no longer only biofuel producers who were required to provide evidence, but also, for the first time, plants that generate electricity or heat/cooling from biomass, provided that their rated thermal input exceeds 20 MW for solid biomass or 2 MW for gaseous biomass. With a further revision (RED III, 2023/2413), the threshold for solid biomass was lowered from 20 to 7.5 MW.
The RED III requirements apply to the entire supply chain – accordingly, all suppliers of an interface that wishes to produce RED III-compliant electricity or heat/cooling from biomass must provide proof of certification in accordance with the known systems.
Benefits of a SURE certification
National subsidies
With SURE-EU certification, electricity/heat producers gain access to the EEG premium or tax relief under EU ETS and national emissions trading (BEHG).
Compliance
SURE-EU is a certification system recognised by the EU Commission for verifying RED III requirements in the areas of gaseous and solid biomass fuels.
Responsibility
You actively contribute to a greener energy industry and can communicate this with a clear conscience: a plus point for your PR and marketing.
Self-declaration: A signed self-declaration must be submitted to the initial recorder or collection point to prove that the biomass produced complies with the REDcert sustainability criteria.
Delivery documentation: Each biomass delivery for the production of sustainable electricity/heat must be clearly labelled (including the certificate number on the shipping documents) and weighed or measured to determine the quantity.
Mass balance: A mass balance system must be maintained separately for each location and is substrate-specific. It allows the physical mixing of raw material or biofuel deliveries with different sustainability characteristics. However, it stipulates that information on the sustainability characteristics of partial deliveries must be recorded separately in the balance sheet.
Greenhouse gas accounting: Proof of greenhouse gas emission savings is only mandatory for plants that went into operation after 1/1/2021. For these plants, a 70 % saving compared to fossil fuels is mandatory. The limit for greenhouse gas emission savings will gradually increase to at least 80 % for plants that go into operation on or after 1/1/2026.
In principle, all certification systems recognised by the EU Commission (REDcert, ISCC, etc.) also recognise each other. For biogas processing plants (BGAA) that produce biomethane for both the fuel market and for the generation of electricity and heat, double certification according to REDcert and SURE may be necessary under certain circumstances.
However, this only applies if there is a CHP plant producing electricity and heat at the same location. In this case, the BGAA would have to be certified according to REDcert for fuel production, but the CHP plant would have to be certified according to SURE. Combined audits according to REDcert and SURE are cost-effective due to reduced membership costs in both systems and only slightly increased audit costs.
If you decide to work with GUTcert, an on-site audit will be conducted to assess compliance with the requirements of the SURE system. Once GUTcert has successfully reviewed the audit documents, you will receive a certificate proving compliance with the sustainability criteria of RED III. The certificate is valid for one year and is renewed before expiry by means of a recertification audit.
Courses offered in the field of Supply Chain and Sustainability Management
