These Regulations amend the Electricity (Guarantees of Origin of Electricity Produced from Renewable Energy Sources ) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 which provide for certificates guaranteeing the origin of electricity generated from renewable sources to be issued to generators by the Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation on request.

Regulation 2(2) replaces references in the original Regulations to the Northern Ireland Authority for Energy Regulation with a reference to the Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation to reflect the name change that was made by Article 3 of the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006. It also replaces references to Northern Ireland Electricity plc with a reference to NIE Energy Ltd following the transfer of the power procurement and public electricity supply businesses from the former to the latter.

Regulation 2(3) amends the Schedule 2 to the original Regulations to take account of the introduction of the Renewables Obligation in Northern Ireland from 1 April 2005. Specifically it requires renewable electricity generators that are applying for guarantee certificates under the Regulations to declare whether their generation station is also accredited for the issue of certificates under the Renewables Obligation.