Is there market for Guarantees of Origin? What is the price of one GO?
There are voluntary markets (often referred also as green power markets), which are driven by consumer preference, who can choose what type of electricity they want to buy from the grid. The markets are characterised by a voluntary demand coming from market operators (like private companies, municipalities, national agencies, etc.), which are buying for voluntary reasons and mainly for disclosure purposes in order to meet their corporate goals related to the environmental sustainability. There is no fixed value for the Guarantees of Origin and their price depends on the market dynamics (demand vs. supply).
Is it possible to transfer a Guarantee of Origin from one country to another?
All Member States shall recognise the Guarantees of Origin issued by other Member States if they are issued and transferred in accordance with the provisions of the RES Directive. However, a Member State may refuse to recognise a GO only when it has well-founded doubts about its accuracy, reliability or veracity.
The European GOs are tradable certificates and can be used in any EU Member State (plus Norway and Switzerland) that has implemented the above mentioned Directive. Currently, the EU GOs are internationally tradable via a hub operated by the Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB).
Are there any other markets for green electricity?
Together with the voluntary markets and the disclosure system, each Member State is allowed to support the development of renewable power through the mandatory markets, which are characterised by national mandatory schemes and feed-in tariff schemes. Some of the most popular national mandatory schemes in Europe are:
• the electricity certificates systems in Sweden-Norway (Elsertifikater system);
• the Certificati Verdi system in Italy;
• the Levy exemptions certificates (LECs) in United Kingdom;
• the Green Certificates scheme in Romania; and
• all the feed-in tariff schemes around the different countries in Europe.
Is there difference between Guarantees of Origin and Green Certificates?
It is important to distinguish between the Guarantees of Origin and the Green Certificates used for the various support schemes around the Europe. Even though they may refer to the same amount of energy produced by renewable sources, the purpose of the Green Certificates is to serve a certain national supporting scheme, when the sole function of the Guarantees of Origin is to proof to a final customer that a given share or quantity of energy was produced from renewable sources. In other words, the Guarantees of Origin is a kind of reliable tracking instrument, when the Green Certificates are used as obligatory instrument for promoting the use of renewable energy sources.
