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Definition

Null power (Scope 2)

Null power is electricity left without its renewable source and emissions attributes after the related certificates or other contractual instruments have been sold or transferred to another claimant.

What is null power (Scope 2)?

Null power is electricity left after its energy attribute certificates, or other instruments carrying the generation attributes, are separated and sold. The electricity user can no longer claim that its source is renewable or use the greenhouse gas emissions rate carried by the sold instrument. The GHG Protocol also calls the remaining electricity commodity electricity. This changes the market-based calculation within Scope 2 emissions.

Why does null power matter to you?

If your company consumes electricity from its own solar system or through a direct line but sells the certificates, you cannot report that electricity as renewable or apply the solar facility's zero-emissions rate. A customer checking your renewable-electricity figure may ask for the consumed MWh, certificate quantity, serial numbers, transfer record, reporting period, and the factor used instead.

How does null power work?

First, match the certificates sold or transferred to the megawatt-hours (MWh) generated and consumed. For those MWh, use another source allowed in the market-based calculation. This may be replacement certificates, an eligible supplier-specific emissions rate, or the residual mix, which is the factor for electricity left after claimed attributes are removed. Use the grid-average factor for the location-based total. Keep the two totals separately labelled.

What mistakes should you avoid?

  • Claiming on-site electricity as renewable after selling its certificates.
  • Applying the generator's emissions rate to both the certificate buyer and the electricity user.
  • Ignoring a partial certificate sale and treating every MWh alike.
  • Using a residual-mix factor without recording its geography, year, value, and unit.

Does selling some certificates make all generation null power?

No. Match the sold certificate quantity to the same quantity of electricity. Only that portion loses the transferred attributes. Keep records showing which certificates, MWh, market, and generation period remain available for your claim.

What should you send when a customer checks the claim?

Send meter records, the certificate issuance and sale records, serial numbers, MWh reconciliation, the residual-mix or replacement-factor source, and both labelled Scope 2 calculations.

Example

Hypothetical Saudi cold-chain warehouse example: Suppose a warehouse in Saudi Arabia generates and consumes 1,200 MWh of rooftop solar electricity in 2026. It then transfers all 1,200 certificates to a third party but keeps the electricity on site.

The reconciliation is 1,200 MWh consumed minus 1,200 MWh whose attributes were transferred = 0 MWh left with a solar attribute claim. All 1,200 MWh are null power. The warehouse cannot report that electricity as renewable or use the rooftop system's zero-emissions rate in its market-based Scope 2 total. It must use another source allowed by the reporting rule, such as replacement certificates, an eligible supplier-specific emissions rate, or the applicable residual mix. It uses the grid-average factor for its separate location-based total. No market-based emissions total can be calculated until the replacement source's value, unit, geography, year, and publisher are recorded.

Where it comes up

GHG Protocol treatment of electricity after energy attributes are sold to a third partyScope 2 Guidance, section 6.4, page 45Official sourceGHG Protocol unique-claims rule assigning residual-mix emissions to the underlying MWhScope 2 Guidance, section 7.5, Scope 2 Quality Criteria 2, page 65Official source

Related terms

Scope 2 Emissions

Scope 2 emissions are the indirect greenhouse gas emissions from generating the electricity, steam, heat, and cooling your company buys and uses.

Emission factor

An emission factor converts a measured activity, such as kilowatt-hours of electricity or litres of fuel, into greenhouse gas emissions by stating the emissions released per unit of that activity.

Energy attribute certificate (EAC)

An energy attribute certificate carries the generation attributes of a defined quantity of electricity and can support a market-based Scope 2 claim when it covers the right period and market and is retired or cancelled for one claimant.

Scope 2 quality criteria

A market-based Scope 2 total reflects your electricity contracts, certificates, and supplier choices rather than only the local grid average; the Scope 2 quality criteria are eight GHG Protocol checks for that evidence.

Sources

  • GHG Protocol

    Null power definition, certificate-sale treatment, replacement or residual-mix factors, and unique claims

    2026-08-20

Last verified 2026-08-20

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Null power (Scope 2) Definition | Keslio