My Green Audit

Eraring Power Station First To Achieve ISO 14064 Greenhouse Certification

Eraring Energy first Company to Gain Greenhouse Certification before Friday October 31 Reporting Deadline

Eraring Energy has become the first Australian energy company to gain independent certification for its coal fired power station in the Hunter Valley to the International Standard for greenhouse gas reporting, ISO 14064.  Eraring Energy successfully achieved ISO 14064 certification before the looming October 31 deadline for major greenhouse gas emitters, including energy companies, to report their greenhouse emissions under the Federal Government’s National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) legislation. 

Eraring Energy has a combined generating capacity of over 3,000 megawatts (MW), including the Eraring Power Station at 2,640MW and a number of wind and hydro power stations.  The NSW state-owned corporation was independently audited by one of Australia’s leading certification bodies, NCS International, to ensure the power station’s emissions report was accurate, complete, reliable and transparent. 

According to the Environment and Sustainability Manager at NCS International, Nav Brah, “Eraring Energy took a pro-active stance by seeking to benchmark its greenhouse report to international standards to provide its stakeholders credible and reliable disclosure of its carbon footprint and risks”.  In an emerging global carbon economy where carbon trading is set to take place across international borders it is imperative to ensure greenhouse disclosure meets credible and robust international standards. 

NGER reporting requirements impact more than 700 Australian corporations that exceed greenhouse emission and energy thresholds.  Corporations must report their greenhouse emissions if their operations emitted more than 100,000 tonnes CO2 or if any facility controlled by the corporation emitted more than 25,000 tonnes CO2 from July 2008 to June 2009. 

Under the NGER Act, such corporations must register and report their emissions and energy data by October 31. Failure to comply could result in fines of over $220,000.

“It is vital that large greenhouse gas emitters seek assurance that their emissions reports are accurate as failure to comply with the legislative requirements will in future carry heavy as well as loss of reputation and investor confidence” said Brah. 

The ISO 14064 International Standard for reporting greenhouse gases adopted by Eraring gave it guidance on how to effectively quantify and report greenhouse gas emissions to comply with international and NGER legislative requirements.