Safeguard facility reported emissions 2019–20

The safeguard mechanism applies to all facilities that emit more than 100,000 tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂-e) emissions in a financial year (the reporting year). Emissions from covered facilities are reported through the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting scheme, by 31 October following each financial year.

Responsible emitters for covered facilities must ensure that they are not in an excess emissions situation on or after 1 March following each reporting year, and have a number of options available to manage any excess emissions.

The Clean Energy Regulator is required to publish information about all covered facilities for each reporting year. Information published includes the baseline emissions number in force for that year, total reported emissions, the responsible emitter(s) for each facility, and any Australian carbon credit units (ACCUs) surrendered.

Under the safeguard mechanism, the Clean Energy Regulator is also required to publish emissions for grid-connected electricity generator facilities. See electricity sector emissions and generation data for more information.

2019–20 Reporting year summary

Notes about this publication

Baseline number:

• Where a facility has both a reported baseline and a calculated baseline, the calculated baseline will be ‘current’, until such time as it expires.
• If a facility has had more than one calculated baseline determination made, the most recently made one will be the baseline that is ‘current’.
• In response to COVID-19, amendments were made in May 2020 to the Safeguard Rule. This included extending calculated baselines that ceased on 1 July 2019, by a year. As a result, the expired calculated baseline will have effect for 2019-20, unless replaced with a new baseline determination.
• Baselines that are withheld may be pending the submission of an application, or a decision under, section 25 of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 (NGER Act).

Multi-year monitoring period determinations:

• Under section 65 of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (Safeguard Mechanism) Rule 2015 (Safeguard Rule), responsible emitters may apply to the Clean Energy Regulator for a multi-year monitoring period to be declared in relation to a facility.
• At the end of a multi-year monitoring period, the baseline for the facility is calculated by dividing the total of the baselines that would apply to the facility in each year of the multi-year monitoring period, by the total number of days in the multi-year monitoring period. This single baseline applies to the two or three year period. For multi-year monitoring periods that ended in 2019-20, the aggregate baseline is displayed in the ‘MYMP baseline number’ column.
  • For facilities that are partway through a multi-year monitoring period, the ‘MYMP baseline number’ column will show as n/a.
  • For data about the baseline that would apply to a facility for each year of the multi-year monitoring period, see the Multi-year monitoring period table.
• For facilities that have a multi-year monitoring period in place, the net emissions number is the total covered emissions from the facility over the entire two or three year period, plus or minus any Australian carbon credit units issued or surrendered over the period. The ‘MYMP net emissions number’ will be populated for facilities with multi-year monitoring periods that ended in 2019-20.
  • This column will show as ‘n/a’, until the multi-year monitoring period has been completed.
  • For data about the covered emissions reported for each year of the multi-year monitoring period, see the Multi-year monitoring period table.
• Amendments made to the Safeguard Rule in response to COVID 19 also included allowing responsible emitters to opt-in to extend a multi-year monitoring period that ceases on 1 July 2020, by one year.
• Under section 56 of the Safeguard Rule, the Clean Energy Regulator must vary any type of baseline to account for updates in relation to global warming potentials, with effect from the start of the relevant financial year.
• Under section 56A of the Safeguard Rule, the Clean Energy Regulator must vary a facility’s production-adjusted baseline where a facility produces a new prescribed (annually adjusted) production variable, provided that:
  • The production variable was not accounted for in determining the original baseline emissions number under the production-adjusted baseline, and
  • The covered emissions relating to the production variable makes up at least 5% of the baseline emissions number.
• A baseline with a fixed component (i.e. set using production variables other than prescribed (annually adjusted) production variables), may be reduced by the Clean Energy Regulator if activities have ceased or reduced at the facility, and the requirements under section 56B of the Safeguard Rule have been satisfied.
• Under section 56C of the Safeguard Rule, responsible emitters may apply to the Clean Energy Regulator for a facility’s baseline to be revoked and a replacement baseline made, where a facility has split into multiple facilities or multiple facilities have merged to form a single facility.
• Under section 57 of the Safeguard Rule, any baseline may be remade by the Clean Energy Regulator because of error. This includes remaking a decision to refuse to make a baseline if information provided by the responsible emitter was false or misleading.

ACCUs issued at a safeguard facility:

• To avoid counting offsets twice, a facility that is covered by the safeguard mechanism and also generates ACCUs under the Emissions Reduction Fund will have any ACCUs that are issued during a financial year, added to its net emissions number.
• This means that an affected Safeguard facility’s net emissions number will be the total amount of covered emissions for the year, plus the total amount of ACCUs issued, minus any ACCUs surrendered.
• If units are then delivered under an Emissions Reduction Fund contract, that were generated at a safeguard facility during the same financial year, that facility’s net emissions number is reduced by the number of units delivered under the contract.

The Clean Energy Regulator takes all reasonable efforts to ensure the information published on its website is accurate at the time of publication.

2019–20 Safeguard facilities data

The table below is a list of facilities covered under the safeguard mechanism for the 2019–20 reporting year.