Glossary
Certificates & support schemes

Additionality

Whether a procurement action causes new renewable capacity to be built, rather than reallocating the output of assets that already exist.

A purchase is “additional” if it changes what gets built: the buyer’s commitment enables a project that would not otherwise have been financed. Contracting a long-term PPA with a pre-construction asset is the clearest form of additionality, because the contract itself supports the project’s investment case.

Buying unbundled certificates from existing generation, by contrast, makes a supply claim without necessarily changing the generation mix — which is why additionality has become a central test in how corporate renewable claims are scrutinised.

Structuring against this in a live deal?

ETC prices and executes PPAs across GB — founder-led, from indicative quote to signed contract.