Energy Generated for Sale: Renewable (PI5842)

NOTE: This metric will be deprecated in a forthcoming update to the IRIS Catalog of Metrics. Users are advised to instead report Energy Generated for Sale: Total (PI8706), disaggregated by Primary Energy Source (OI3781), all options under Renewable.

This metric is intended to capture renewable energy generated for commercial sale by the organization. Bulk energy is usually sold under a power purchase agreement with an electricity utility. The buyer or purchaser of this energy is termed the offtaker.

Renewable energy sources include solar, wind, geothermal, hydro energy, and biomass, among other forms. Organizations can refer to the glossary for additional information.

Large-scale hydropower is often excluded from the definition of renewable energy. Although water itself is a renewable resource, the natural ecology of rivers is not, and hydroelectric dams can adversely affect aquatic ecosystems. Organizations can refer to the Low Impact Hydropower Institute (http://lowimpacthydro.org) for further guidance on creating low-impact hydropower operations.

Organizations wishing to report on the amount of renewable energy generated for the organization's own use should instead report Energy Generated for Use: Renewable (OI2496).

In some contexts, this metric can serve as an indicator of whether the outcome being sought by an investor or organization is occurring (the WHAT dimension of impact). For more on the alignment of IRIS metrics to the five dimensions of impact, see IRIS+ and the Five Dimensions of Impact (https://iris.thegiin.org/document/iris-and-the-five-dimensions/). No single metric is sufficient to understand an impact; rather, metrics are selected as a set across all dimensions of impact. When possible, the selection of metrics to measure and describe the five dimensions should be based on best practice and evidence.