The community Emissions
Trading System (allocation of allowances) UK auctions 2008:
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
AND CLIMATE CHANGE News Release (2008/4) issued by COI News
Distribution Service. 17 October 2008
ANNOUNCEMENT OF
VOLUME OF ALLOWANCES FOR THE FIRST UK AUCTION
The Government intends to auction 4 million allowances at the
first EU ETS auction in the UK on 19 November 2008. During 2009
the Government plans to auction 25 million allowances.
The first UK auction will provide for a competitive bidding
facility. Bids must be placed through an intermediary, referred to
as a Primary Participant. Subsequent auctions will include a
non-competitive component to facilitate direct access to the
auctions for the smaller compliance buyers.
The bidding window will be open between 08:00 and 10:00 GMT on
Wednesday 19 November 2008.
VAT will be chargeable on EU allowances in order to avoid any
distortion of competition with existing carbon markets.
Notes to editors
1. The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) aims to reduce
emissions of carbon dioxide at least cost to industry.
Participants are allocated emissions allowances that they can
trade to help them meet their emissions reductions targets.
2. The System works on a "cap and trade" basis. Member
States' governments are required to set an emissions cap for
all installations covered by the scheme. Each installation will
then be allocated allowances for the particular commitment period
in question. The number of allowances allocated to each
installation for any given period is specified in a document
called the National Allocation Plan (NAP). Anyone who is not
covered by the System will be able to open an account on the
Registry and buy and sell allowances.
3. If an installation fails to surrender sufficient allowances to
cover its annual emissions, it will face financial penalties
(currently set at E100 per tonne), and also the requirement to
surrender sufficient allowances the following year.
4. The UK NAP for the second trading period (2008-2012) sets
aside 7% of the allowance cap for auctioning, amounting to
approximately 85 million allowances over the phase. HMT has
appointed the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) as
the person conducting the auction. DECC has appointed the UK Debt
Management Office (DMO) to act as its agent.
5. The auctions are open to anyone who holds an EU ETS Registry
account. The auctions will comprise two bidding stages - i)
non-competitive and ii) competitive. The first auctions will
involve competitive bidding only. The Government aims to implement
the non-competitive bidding facility early in 2009.
6. The Government will be appointing intermediaries (known as
Primary Participants) to facilitate the competitive stage of
auctions. Organisations will need to apply to Defra to become
Primary Participants and will be assessed against the eligibility
criteria set out in the Scheme. These include having an office in
an EEA state, having the ability to meet financial commitments
supported by suitable credit ratings, the ability to effectively
participate in an auction on behalf of others, and systems to
prevent the disclosure of confidential information (including
having 'Chinese walls' within their organisation).
7. Once appointed, Primary Participants must abide by the
"Terms" set out in the Scheme. These include accepting
instructions to act on behalf of any organisation with an EU
Registry account (known in this process as 'indirect
bidders'), subject to anti-money laundering checks and their
own objective checks on the indirect bidders' ability to pay
for allowances. This ensures that UK auctions are open to all and
that Primary Participants cannot refuse to place bids on behalf of
an indirect bidder without good reason.
8. In accordance with 'The Community Emission Trading
(Allocation of Allowances for Payment) Scheme that establishes a
transparent mechanism for determining the clearing price at
auction, the Treasury intends to determine a reserve price below
which no allowances may be allocated by auction. The reserve price
will be calculated by applying a discount rate and markdown to the
prevalent secondary market price before the close of the bidding window.
Department of Energy and Climate Change
7th Floor, 3-8
Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 9HH
Public enquiries +44 (0)20
7215 5000
Textphone +44 (0)20 7215 6740 (for those with
hearing impairment)
http://www.decc.gov.uk