SURE certification as prove for sustainable biomass

Legal framwork

On 21.12.2018, Directive (EU) 2018/2001 (REDII) came into force and the scope of application for compliance with   biomasssustainability criteria was extended. According to RED II,  operators of plants for the generation of electricity or heating/cooling from biomass were obliged to generate electricity or heat/cold  from biomass with a rated thermal input of 20 MW for solid biomass or 2 MW for gaseous biomass to demonstrate the sustainable production and use of biomass.

In doing so, the European Union is reacting  to the expected increasing share of bioenergy to cover energy demand and is also setting sustainability criteria for solid biomass (analogous to RED I for liquid biomass).

With a new revision (RED III, 2023/2413), the threshold for solid biomass was lowered from 20 to 7.5 MW.

The RED III requirements apply to the entire supply chain – accordingly, all suppliers of an interface that wants to produce electricity or heating/cooling from biomass in compliance with RED III must prove certification according to arecognized system, such as SURE.

The SURE-EU certification is designed to provide these proofs of sustainability.

What is SURE?

The certification system SURE-EU (SUSTAINABLE RESOURCES Verification Scheme) is a voluntary certification system and was  developed as a sister system of REDcert for the product, supply and processing chains of solid and gaseous biofuels according to the requirements of RED III. The scope of SURE-EU applies to solid and gaseous biomass fuels produced from the following types of biomass in accordance with the requirements of Article 29 of Directive (EU) 2018/2001:

• Biomass from agriculture, including agricultural waste and residues
• Biomass from forestry, including forestry waste and residues
• Biomass waste and residues

More information about the SURE-EU system can be found here.

Why a SURE certification?

With certification according to SURE-EU, you can prove that the biomass used comes from sustainable sources, meets the requirements of RED III and, as an electricity/heat producer, you have access to the EEG premium or tax breaks under EU ETS and national emissions trading (SESTA).

---

Important steps for SURE certification

1. Registration SURE (for companies not yet certified)

   – Registration under www.sure-system.org
   – Verification of registered data by SURE
   – Contract between company and SURE
   – Confirmation of participation by SURE

   close

2. Initial information

   – Company completes GFA questionnaire
   – If necessary, clarification of further details and open questions
   – GFA evaluates information

   close

3. Proposal & Order

   – Preparation of certification proposal by GFA
   – Placing of a certification order by the company

   close

4. Implementation by the company

   – Preparation of the necessary system documentation
   – Implementation of procedures

   close

5. Main audit

   – System audit by GFA auditor (if necessary, checks at suppliers)
   – Presentation of audit results and discussion of corrective measures
   – Certification decision by GFA
   – Remedy of major deviations by the company

   close

6. Certificate

   – Issuance and dispatch of the certificate by the GFA
   – Registration of the certificate with SURE and BLE by the GFA
   – Surveillance audit after six or three months (certain WaR plants)

   close

7. Recertification before 12 months

   – Implementation of the recertification audit

   close

What does GFA Certification offer?

GFA Certification is recognized by the SURE System as a certification body and can offer tailored SURE certification solutions for your company. Companies with an existing certification according to FSC and PEFC can benefit from combined audit procedures.

For a certification proposal, please request a proposal via the button “request proposal” or contact us directly:

Sabrina Koch

Tel.: +49 40 5247431 130 or  +49 151 15056621

Email.: bioenergie@gfa-cert.com