You, as an operator of an installation, may have received a request for "CBAM data" from one of your customers. What does this mean?
Installations are manufacturing sites that produce CBAM goods. Each installation needs to prepare product-level emissions data, in line with the EU CBAM's permitted carbon accounting methodology, in order to enable importers of CBAM goods to report the total embedded emissions in the products that they have imported into the EU.
Installation CBAM data should be prepared using the EU's communication data template provided on the Europa website. This template enables installation to prepare product-level intensity calculations in line with the EU CBAM permitted carbon accounting methodologies. Only one installation CBAM data file needs to be prepared per installation. Installation CBAM data files must capture all CBAM goods produced at that installation.
Importers of CBAM goods must use actual data received directly from installations for reporting on the embedded emissions of goods imported in Q3 2024, with a reporting deadline of 31st October 2024. Up to this point, they are able to use the default values provided by the European Commission.
Installations should prepare a CBAM data communication sheet that enables them to calculate the embedded emissions per aggregated product group at the CN code level. These emissions intensity figures are calculated on an average basis, generally over the period of 12-months.
Key points to note with regards to the installation CBAM data:
Installations only have to provide CBAM data to a customer once per year from October 2024 onwards;
The installation CBAM data file must cover all CBAM goods produced on site, aggregated at the CN-code level, over a defined period, likely 12-months;
The installation CBAM data file only needs to contain the final "Summary_Communication" sheet of the EU's communication data template;
Without a complete Summary_Communication dataset, an importer of CBAM goods will not be able to correctly make a CBAM declaration, potentially exposing them to fines of between 10-50 EUR per tonne of CO2e misreported.
The installation CBAM data does not need to be verified until the definitive period (from 1st January 2026 onwards).
Don't know where to start with regards to preparing your installation CBAM data? Don't fear, CarbonChain has prepared step-by-step guidance.