Our group companies sell power, steam or freight to each other. How do we avoid counting those emissions twice?
In the group inventory, count each emission once, at the company that burns the fuel. Power or steam one group company sells to another stays in the seller's Scope 1 and drops out of the buyer's Scope 2. Freight on group-owned trucks is Scope 1, not Category 4. Each company's own standalone report still shows its purchases normally.
The consolidation rule
The GHG Protocol builds a group inventory by adding the emissions of each entity inside the organisational boundary, under control or equity share. Inside that boundary, a sale from one entity to another is not a new emission. The fuel was burnt once, so the emission is counted once, as Scope 1 at the entity that burnt it.
Common intercompany flows
- Captive power or steam sold to a sister plant: seller's Scope 1 only; remove from the buyer's Scope 2 in the group total.
- Group transport company carrying goods for a manufacturing entity: transporter's Scope 1; remove from the manufacturer's Category 4.
- Intermediate goods sold between group plants: the producer's Scope 1 and 2 already count; remove from the buyer's Category 1 in the group total.
- Office space let from one entity to another: the energy sits once, with whoever operates the space.
Standalone and group reports side by side
Lenders and buyers sometimes want one entity's footprint. In that standalone report the buyer entity shows its intercompany power as Scope 2 and goods as Category 1, as for any supplier. Keep a reconciliation that lists each intercompany flow, so the group total equals the sum of entities minus the eliminations.
Equity share groups
If the group reports on equity share, partly owned entities contribute their share of emissions. Eliminate intercompany flows in proportion to the share included, and state the rule you used.
Worked example: captive power sold to a sister company
- Entity A runs a captive plant; its fuel gives 1,500 t CO2, all in A's Scope 1
- A sells 2,000 MWh to Entity B; B also buys 5,000 MWh from the grid
- Group Scope 1 includes A's 1,500 t once
- Group Scope 2: only grid power, 5,000,000 kWh x 0.710 = 3,550 t
- Group Scope 1 and 2: 1,500 + 3,550 = 5,050 t, with B's purchase from A eliminated
What Senseible does here
With the Multi-entity Support add-on on Pro, or on Scale, Senseible keeps several entities' bills and invoices apart. Eliminating intercompany flows for a group total is a reporting step you document alongside those records.
Sources: GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, organisational boundaries, GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance
Last reviewed 2026-10-20.