How Notodden Energi builds carbon accounts from its financials

Notodden Energi, an electricity and broadband provider in Telemark, gets its scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon accounts from Morescope, part of Position Green, starting with the figures in its annual financial statements. Aider’s sustainability team set up the accounting integration, and the group could compare 2024 with 2023 within a short time.

Notodden Energi aims to be the leading electricity company in Telemark and to help build an attractive local community by making technology accessible to everyone. Alongside electricity it provides Altibox and broadband services, and it invests in the community by sponsoring local teams and associations.

The challenge: high reporting demands and a need for company-level climate data

In 2022, the Notodden Energi Group chose Xledger as its ERP system and Aider as its partner. The collaboration grew in 2023 to cover payroll, accounting and controlling, and it extended to the Norwegian Transparency Act when the law took effect in 2022. Next came the need for carbon accounting at company level.

“When the Transparency Act came into effect in 2022, it was natural for us to extend the collaboration to cover this area as well,” says Asbjørn Kasin, Quality Manager at Notodden Energi Holding.

The solution: transaction-based carbon accounting

Position Green estimates the company’s emissions from the annual financial statements, which is known as transaction-based carbon accounting. Estimates are then updated with more precise activity data from internal operations, suppliers or partners where it’s available. The result is a carbon account covering scope 1, 2 and 3 in line with the GHG Protocol.

“Since carbon accounting starts with the financial statements and an overview of purchases and suppliers, it’s an advantage that we are familiar with the client’s accounts. And since the Notodden Group has been a client for several years, we naturally know the accounts in detail,” says Sjur Langedal, Director at Aider.

The results: year-on-year tracking and VSME-ready data

The accounting system integration was quick to set up, so financial data now flows in automatically. Notodden Energi can set targets aligned with the Paris Agreement and science-based targets, and transfer the full carbon account into VSME reporting in the same platform.

“Setting up integration between the accounting system and Morescope is very quick, so the financial data is automatically imported. We started with the climate account for 2024, then added transaction data from 2023. We quickly got good enough overviews to track developments from one year to the next,” says Langedal.

“The positive experience with Aider’s sustainability team on the Transparency Act made it easy to involve them when we saw the need for climate accounting at the company level. Aider presented the Morescope climate platform, and we quickly realized it was a good match for us.”

Asbjørn Kasin, Quality Manager, Notodden Energi Holding