Guarantees of Origin
What is a Guarantee of Origin?
A Guarantee of Origin (GoO) certifies the origin of electricity generated. It is issued by the distribution or transmission system operator concerned. The electricity “labelled” is either generated by a combined heat and power facility, or from a renewable source.
Renewable energy sources are wind, solar, geothermal, wave, tidal and hydro-electric, and they also include energy generated from biomass, landfill gases, gases from water treatment stations and biogas.
Biomass is the biodegradable fraction of products, waste and residues from agriculture, including animal and vegetable substances, from forestry and from related industries, as well as the biodegradable fraction of industrial and household waste.
Who can apply for Guarantees of Origin?
You can apply for Guarantees of Origin for the electricity you generate, if:
- You are a generator without a feed-in tariff agreement
- You generate from renewable sources or CHP
- Your facility has a meter described in a binding contract between your electricity generating facility and your grid operator.
Who issues Guarantees of Origin?
To obtain Guarantees of Origin for your electricity output, you should get in touch with your usual contact at your distribution or transmission system operator. They will issue Guarantees of Origin, provided your application satisfies the necessary regulatory criteria.
The issue period is 60 days for a first application and 30 days for subsequent applications, after receipt of the completed form, and subject to eligibility.
How much does a Guarantee of Origin issued by RTE cost?
The price consists of a fixed component and a variable component.
The fixed component is €800 per Guarantee issued for a site generating from renewable sources, and €1,000 per Guarantee issued for a CHP site.
The variable component is €0.005 per MWh guaranteed.
How to have the use of a Guarantee of Origin included in the national register?
You can ask RTE to enter the name of the user of a Guarantee of Origin in the national register. To do this, RTE has developed an additional service to complement the GoO issuing service, which involves tracking the ownership of a Guarantee of Origin from start to finish.
