Guarantees of origin
According to the Electricity Market Act, the transmission system operator, Elering, will issue guarantees of origin to the producer, based on the producer’s application. The sole purpose of the guarantee of origin is to certify that the electricity has been generated from renewable energy sources or in an efficient cogeneration process.
The origin of the electricity consumed is certified by using guarantees of origin issued in Estonia or in another member state of the European Union and cancelled in the Estonian database. A guarantee of origin is an electronic document and may be bought separately from the electricity generated. A guarantee of origin is valid for trading and cancellation for 12 months after the production of the corresponding energy unit (1 megawatt-hour). After this, the guarantee of origin may no longer be traded or used.
As of September 2014, Elering, and therefore the Estonian domain, is a member of the association for issuance of guarantees of origin, AIB (Association of Issuing Bodies). AIB administers the central electronic registry for guarantees of origin (the AIB Hub), which facilitates cross-border trade in guarantees of origin and promotes the standardised pan-European framework of rules (the European Energy Certificate System or EECS). A short brochure explaining the AIB in more detail is available here.
The full list of members available for trading guarantees of origin can be found on the AIB website.
The guarantee of origin database can be found at green.elering.ee. The Estonian Domain Protocol describes the main activities and procedures that a producer or trader may encounter when using the guarantee of origin database. For queries please use email avp.go@elering.ee or call (+372) 71 51 243.
By the end of 2020 a total of 143 (producers and traders) have joined the guarantee of origin database. A total of 441 generating installations with a combined capacity of 1890 MW are registered on the database.
|
Technology |
Number of generating installations |
Total capacity (MW) |
|---|---|---|
|
Wind |
27 |
315 |
|
Hydro energy |
19 |
8,2 |
|
Biogas |
5 |
4,6 |
|
Biomass |
23 |
1490,3 |
| Solar | 361 | 53,7 |
| Natural gas | 6 | 18,8 |
In 2020 the national RES production was 2230 GWh and in turn, guarantees of origin were issued for 1969 GWh of electricity.
- A producer located in the Republic of Estonia generating electricity from renewable energy sources or in efficient CHP mode provided for in the Electricity Market Act, or a trader authorised by such producer, has the right to submit an application for the issuance of a guarantee of origin.
- The standard unit of energy of a guarantee of origin is one megawatt-hour. One guarantee of origin is issued in respect of each megawatt-hour of electricity generated. If the full number of megawatt-hours in the application is exceeded, the remaining kilowatt-hours can be used in the application for the next period’s guarantees of origin.
- A prerequisite for submitting an application for the issuance of guarantees of origin is registering a production device located in the Republic of Estonia in the database administered by the transmission system operator (green.elering.ee)
- When applying for guarantees of origin for electricity generated in an efficient cogeneration mode, you will also need to submit to the transmission system operator (via avp.go@elering.ee or directly at green.elering.ee) the relevant fuel and heat data necessary for checking the fulfilment of efficiency requirements.
- A market participant does not need to be located in the Republic of Estonia in order to trade guarantees of origin, but both producers and traders must accept and sign the Standard Terms and Conditions and the application to register with the database. Market participants from outside Estonia are kindly requested to fill in the Know-Your-Customer questionnaire.
Guarantees of origin for electricity produced from renewable energy sources include at least:
- the name and address of the producer
- the name, location, type and installed electrical capacity of the generating installation, and the designated energy source used for the generation of electricity;
- the date on which the generating installation first became operational;
- the start and end date of production of the energy unit;
- whether the producer has received investment support or production support;
- the date of issue of the guarantee of origin and its identification number;
- other relevant information.
In addition to the information above, certificates of origin of electricity generated in an efficient CHP process also include the following:
- the heat capacity of the generating installation;
- the lower calorific value of the fuel used;
- the volume and manner of use of the thermal energy generated in the cogeneration process;
- the nominal electrical and thermal efficiency of the generating installation;
- information about primary energy savings.
Elering is preparing to apply activity fees for the export, import and ex-domain cancellation of guarantees of origin (GO) outside the Estonian domain as follows:
- Registration fee (registration of producers, generating installations or traders in the database): not applicable
- Activity fee 0.005 EUR per GO, applied for the export and/or import of GOs in our system and for external cancellations of GOs in states/areas that are not members of AIB and whose registries are not technically compatible with Elering’s: currently not applicable; market participants will be notified about application of the fee in good time.
- A producer located in the Republic of Estonia generating electricity from renewable energy sources or in efficient CHP mode provided for in the Electricity Market Act, or a trader authorised by such producer, has the right to submit an application for the issuance of a guarantee of origin.
- The standard unit of energy of a guarantee of origin is one megawatt-hour. One guarantee of origin is issued in respect of each megawatt-hour of electricity generated. If the full number of megawatt-hours in the application is exceeded, the remaining kilowatt-hours can be used in the application for the next period’s guarantees of origin.
- A prerequisite for submitting an application for the issuance of guarantees of origin is registering a production device located in the Republic of Estonia in the database administered by the transmission system operator (green.elering.ee)
- When applying for guarantees of origin for electricity generated in an efficient cogeneration mode, you will also need to submit to the transmission system operator (via avp.go@elering.ee or directly at green.elering.ee) the relevant fuel and heat data necessary for checking the fulfilment of efficiency requirements.
- A market participant does not need to be located in the Republic of Estonia in order to trade guarantees of origin, but both producers and traders must accept and sign the Standard Terms and Conditions and the application to register with the database. Market participants from outside Estonia are kindly requested to fill in the Know-Your-Customer questionnaire.
Guarantees of origin for electricity produced from renewable energy sources include at least:
- the name and address of the producer
- the name, location, type and installed electrical capacity of the generating installation, and the designated energy source used for the generation of electricity;
- the date on which the generating installation first became operational;
- the start and end date of production of the energy unit;
- whether the producer has received investment support or production support;
- the date of issue of the guarantee of origin and its identification number;
- other relevant information.
In addition to the information above, certificates of origin of electricity generated in an efficient CHP process also include the following:
- the heat capacity of the generating installation;
- the lower calorific value of the fuel used;
- the volume and manner of use of the thermal energy generated in the cogeneration process;
- the nominal electrical and thermal efficiency of the generating installation;
- information about primary energy savings.
Elering is preparing to apply activity fees for the export, import and ex-domain cancellation of guarantees of origin (GO) outside the Estonian domain as follows:
- Registration fee (registration of producers, generating installations or traders in the database): not applicable
- Activity fee 0.005 EUR per GO, applied for the export and/or import of GOs in our system and for external cancellations of GOs in states/areas that are not members of AIB and whose registries are not technically compatible with Elering’s: currently not applicable; market participants will be notified about application of the fee in good time.