Carbon Credit Revenue Calculator

Today’s grid emissions iOperating margin. Average emissions of power plants that can be turned down when your plant runs. CEA FY 2025-26 default is 0.963 tCO₂ per MWh. Leave this unless you have a host-country factor. t/MWh

India default, FY 2025-26

New-plant emissions iBuild margin. Emissions of the newest plants on the grid, the ones a new project is assumed to delay. CEA FY 2025-26 default is 0.446 tCO₂ per MWh. t/MWh

Used with today’s grid to set the credit factor

Credit price iSale price per carbon credit, one credit equals one tonne of CO₂e. Range is $1 to $300. Renewable credits in Asia have recently been in the low single digits. Higher prices apply only to labelled or compliance-eligible credits.

USD

$1 to $300 per credit. Applies on every tab.

Years and registry fee iYears is the crediting period used for the revenue total. Fee is a simple haircut for registry issuance charges, taken off revenue. UCR publishes about 3.75–4.5% of volume.

yr %

Shared by solar, hydro and wind

Solar PV

Fast to build, no reservoir test

Plant size iNameplate capacity in kilowatts. 1,000 kW = 1 MW. Solar and wind here run from 1 kW to 100,000 kW (100 MW). A 1 kW entry is a screen, not a standalone registry project.

How often it runs near full power iCapacity utilisation factor, or CUF. A 19% plant produces as much energy in a year as if it ran at full power 19% of the hours. Specific yield = this percent × 8,760 hours.

19% is the old India utility benchmark. Fixed plants in the west often land at 17–23%. Trackers can reach 24–27%.

Power lost before export iShare of generated electricity used by inverters and the plant itself, or lost before it reaches the grid. It is deducted before credits are counted. · panel ageing iModule degradation. Typical warranty decline is about 0.4–0.5% per year. The tool averages that over the crediting period so year 10 is not treated as year 1.

% %/yr

These are screening numbers. Switch takes plants from here to issued credits.

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What the credit uses

The registry identity is ER = BE − PE − LE. BE is exported MWh times the grid factor. PE and LE are zero for a solar plant with no diesel backup.

Utility solar in India is usually business-as-usual. Verra’s VMR0017 (April 2026) reopens grid solar beyond least-developed countries (LDCs) only where additionality still holds. GCC has issued on Indian solar, including Tata Power’s 100 MW Uttar Pradesh plant.

Reference projects and trade-offs

Project	Signal
Tata Power 100 MW, Uttar Pradesh, GCC-P-S00345	342,443 ACCs issued for 1 Jan 2022–31 May 2024
NHDC Omkareshwar floating, 88 MW AC, Madhya Pradesh	Expected 204.58 million units/year (about 26.5% CUF). UCR lists an 88 MW NHDC floating project at 144,779 credits
Gold Standard GS7726, 300 MW Bhadla	2023-vintage VERs still retired in 2026; treat as a legacy Indian solar issuance, not a new-build template

Where solar wins: modular from 1 kW, short build, no reservoir gate, higher grid weight per MWh.

What a verifier will test: energy per MW is the lowest of the three, land take, module degradation, daylight-only output, and above all additionality on merchant Indian solar.

Run-of-river hydro powerhouse in a forested valley

Hydroelectric

Firm energy around the clock

Plant size iNameplate capacity in kilowatts. Hydro here runs from 1 kW to 1,000,000 kW (1,000 MW). 100,000 kW is 100 MW.

How often it runs near full power iCapacity factor. Water is not available at full power all year. 45% means the plant produces 45% of the energy it would if it ran flat out. 100% is a ceiling, not a plan.

US hydro fleets sit near 35%. A Liberia rehab implied about 26%. A Nepal run-of-river plant implied about 72%.

Reservoir emissions iShallow reservoirs can release methane. Registries use power density, watts of plant per square metre of new reservoir. Above 10 W/m², no debit. Between 4 and 10, a default 0.09 tonne per MWh. At or below 4, the usual methodology does not apply. Power lost before export iStation use and line loss deducted before credits are counted. %

These are screening numbers. Switch takes plants from here to issued credits.

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What the credit uses

Hydro can run when the grid needs it, so registries split today’s grid and new plants evenly. On the India defaults that is 0.705 tonnes per MWh. A reservoir debit applies only if the new lake is large relative to the plant.

New Verra grid hydro remains largely limited to least-developed countries under VCS v4 and VMR0017. GCC and UCR have registered hydro after 2022, including small Indian plants on UCR.

Reference projects and trade-offs

Project	Signal
Carhuac, 20 MW, Peru, GCC, ACM0002	49,877 tCO₂e/year average (Aug 2026 note)
Sardi Khola, 4 MW, Nepal, GCC, AMS-I.D, registered 15 Sep 2026	63,260 tCO₂e and 218,160 MWh over 10 years
Mount Coffee rehab, 88 MW, Liberia, GCC, 2025	202.7 GWh/year
Hydro-3, Azerbaijan, Gold Standard, registered 28 May 2025	10,745 units issued 28 Jan 2026
Zemithang 3 MW, Arunachal, UCR	16,326 t for FY 2022–23

Where hydro wins: most MWh per MW, dispatchable, night-time output, GCC pathway still open.

What a verifier will test: Verra is largely closed outside LDCs, reservoir and social risk, long build, and a lower credit factor per MWh than solar or wind on the Indian grid.

Onshore wind

More energy per MW than solar

Plant size iNameplate capacity in kilowatts. Wind here runs from 1 kW to 100,000 kW (100 MW). A single modern turbine is usually 2–5 MW, so small entries are a scale screen only.

How often it runs near full power iCapacity factor. Wind is not at full power all year. 32% is the India average for plants commissioned in 2023. Put wake losses and downtime inside this number, not as a second cut.

India new wind plants averaged 32% in 2023 and 39% in 2024. Auctions often require at least 22%.

Power lost before export iElectrical loss between the turbine and the grid. Do not also cut the capacity factor for the same loss. %

These are screening numbers. Switch takes plants from here to issued credits.

Talk to our team →

What the credit uses

Wind uses the same daylight-style grid factor as solar, 0.834 tonnes per MWh on the India defaults. There is no reservoir debit. Keep downtime inside the “how often it runs” field so it is not cut twice.

GCC’s 2025 portfolio is dominated by wind and solar submissions. Additionality for grid wind in India is the same binding test as solar: carbon finance has to change the decision, not decorate a tariff-winning plant.

Reference points and trade-offs

Anchor	Signal
IRENA Renewable Power Generation Costs 2024	India new onshore wind CF 32% (2023) and 39% (2024)
SECI / state hybrid auctions, REN21 GSR 2025 India snapshot	Wind minimum CUF often 22%; wind-solar hybrid minimum 30%
GCC annual report 2025	Wind / solar / hybrid is the largest submission class (1,154 of 1,591)

Where wind wins: more MWh per MW than solar, same higher grid weight, land can stay in grazing or farming, no reservoir test.

What a verifier will test: the resource is site-specific, output is variable, a 1 kW to 1 MW entry will not stand alone as a registry project, and India additionality is hard on Verra and Gold Standard.

Solar PV

Fast to build, no reservoir test

What the credit uses

Reference projects and trade-offs

Hydroelectric

Firm energy around the clock

What the credit uses

Reference projects and trade-offs

Onshore wind

More energy per MW than solar

What the credit uses

Reference points and trade-offs

Same capacity

How to read the comparison

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