Quantum Commodity Intelligence – A Singapore-headquartered developer istargeting the launch before July of two pilot carbon credit projects – one in the USand one in South Africa – using a novel methodology aimed at preventing theextraction of commercially viable coal reserves.
TransEnergy Global is preparing to register the two pilot initiatives in the Iceland-based International Carbon Registry (ICR) using the standard’s M-ICR-010 CoalAbatement for the Energy Transition methodology, the developer firm’s groupmanaging director told Quantum on Thursday.
“Our current objective is to target listing of our first two projects in Q2 2026,subject to completion of contractual arrangements and progression through theapplicable registry and validation processes,” Duncan Ward said.
“We are targeting first issuance (of credits some time) in 2026,” he added.
The offsets would qualify as Energy Transition Credits (ETCs), similar to thosebacked by US-based Kinetic Coalition, which coordinates efforts to retire coal-firedpower plants early and replace them with renewable energy and batteries.
While the coalition’s plant-retirement initiatives address emissions at the point ofpower generation, TransEnergy’s model targets the coal value chain upstream,intervening before mining investment and development decisions are locked in.
Greenfield, brownfield
“To be clear, we are not closing operating coal mines,” Ward said.
“Our model focuses on the legal sterilisation of economically viable coal assets —either greenfield coal reserves that would otherwise be developed, or brownfield inactive coal mines that retain extractable, commercially valuable reserves,” he pointed out.
The managing director said the methodology, which was designed by TransEnergy, prevents future extraction through enforceable legal frameworks, meaning the coal remains in the ground and the associated future emissions are eliminated at source.
The approach requires extensive coal asset due diligence, including geological reserve validation, economic viability assessments, land and mineral rights verification, environmental and permitting reviews, and counterfactual emissions modelling to demonstrate additionality and establish a baseline.
Ward said that after the two pilot projects, the company is planning a third in Indonesia.
However, for the moment he declined to specify neither of the locations, launch timelines or projected credit volumes, saying the three schemes remain precontract and subject to commercial agreements.
Price discovery
“For illustrative purposes only, the combustion of one tonne of thermal coal typically results in approximately 2-2.5 tonnes of CO2 emissions, depending on calorific value and carbon content,” he said.
Accordingly, a hypothetical project permanently avoiding the extraction and combustion of 20 million tonnes of economically viable coal could correspond to gross avoided emissions of 40 million to 50 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, the managing director explained.
Ward said that TransEnergy will work with US-based environmental services firm Gordian Knot Strategies “to undertake a structured price discovery and market intelligence programme related to its planned ETC developments”.
The price discovery work will provide clarity on issues such as how ETCs sourced from upstream projects compare to downstream ones such as those supported by the Kinetic Coalition.
The first project under the Kinetic Coalition is using US-based carbon registry Verra’s VM0052 Accelerated Retirement of Coal-Fired Power Plants Using a Just Transition methodology.
That project belongs to South Luzon Thermal Energy, whose coal plant in the Philippines will shut in 2030, 10 years earlier than planned.
The head of the coalition told Quantum in November that he expects the project to see the first issued credits in 2031.
The Quantum View:
Transition credits test the outer limits of carbon marketcredibility. Paying to close coal plants early is already contentious; paying to notmine coal may prove even harder to defend. Methodological rigor, legalpermanence and watertight additionality will be everything. Much will hinge onbuyer appetite: It remains to be seen how the market receives upstream ETCs andwhether they command a premium for ambition or trade at a discount forperceived risk.
