Renewables Obligation
The Renewables Obligation (RO) was developed as a direct incentive to encourage the commissioning and construction of new renewable energy plant in the UK. The RO places a mandatory requirement on UK electricity suppliers to source a percentage of electricity from eligible generation capacity, which rises year by year, aiming for a target of 15% by 2015.
Suppliers are required to produce evidence of their compliance with this obligation to the electricity regulator, OFGEM (link). Evidence can be via certificates (referred to as Renewable Obligation Certificates or ROCs). Each ROC represents one megawatt hour of electricity generated from eligible sources. For further information, please visit the OFGEM website.