About GOs
Article 5 of the EU Directive 2001/77/CE on the promotion of electricity from renewable energy sources in the internal electricity market, requires the provision of Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (GOs) to electricity producers (i.e. generators) in respect of electricity generated from renewable sources. The legislation means that generators will be able to request a GO to act as evidence that they have generated a given amount of electricity from renewables.
The Directive requires all member states (MS) to put the necessary legislation and organisational infrastructure in place so that one (or more) independent body is in place to certify that “green” electricity comes from renewable energy if a generator requests this information. These systems are expected to be in place by October 27, 2003.
Summary of Article 5
Article 5 of the Directive requires that Member States ensure that a GO is issued on request in respect of electricity generated from eligible renewable energy sources, as defined by the Directive. The system is purely voluntary, and individual generators are left to decide if they wish to make such a request. The main provisions of Article 5 require that guarantees of origin:
- Specify the energy source(s) from which the electricity was generated, the dates and place of production, and in the case of hydro-electricity, the capacity of the plant;
- Serve to enable producers of electricity from renewables to demonstrate that the electricity they sell is produced from renewable sources as defined by the Directive.
- Should be mutually recognised by Member States, and any refusal to recognise should be based on objective, transparent and non-discriminatory criteria (e.g. fraud).
- Other details are left to the discretion of Member States
Article 5.1
GOs will be issued according to objective, transparent and non-discriminatory
criteria. These criteria are set out in paragraph 6(3) of the draft
Regulations, and stipulate that the electricity in question must have
been generated
from an eligible renewable source, and that any information regarding
the electricity is accurate and based on reliable procedures and monitoring.
Each Member State is responsible for issuing of GOs to generators within
its own jurisdiction.
Article 5.2
This enables Member States to designate competent bodies, which are
independent of generation and distribution companies, to supervise
the issue of GOs.
Article 5.3
This specifies the minimum information which a guarantee of origin
should contain:
- the energy source (or sources) from which the electricity was produced;
- the dates and place of production (e.g. name of generating station);
- in the case of electricity generated from hydroelectricity, the GO should also indicate the capacity (i.e. declared net capacity) of the generating station.
Article 5.4
This requires that GOs shall be mutually recognised by the Member
States. Any refusal to recognise a GO from another Member State
must be based
on objective, transparent and nondiscriminatory criteria (such
as fraud). In the event of a Member State refusing to recognise
a GO,
the Commission
may compel the Member State to do so. In this context, “recognising” a
GO means accepting that the electricity for which the GO was
issued was generated from renewable sources as defined by the
Directive.
Article 5.5
This requires that Member States or the competent bodies appointed
by them put in place
mechanisms to ensure that GOs are accurate and reliable (i.e.
that the electricity
concerned is produced from eligible renewable sources and any
information provided is accurate). Member States will also
have to report to
the Commission by 27 October 2003 on the measures taken to
ensure the reliability
of the
system.
Article 5.6
This provision is for the Commission and enables them to consider
the forms and methods used by the Member States to guarantee
the origin
of renewable
energy. If necessary, the Commission may propose common rules,
but these would need to be agreed by the Council of Ministers
and the
European Parliament.
The definition of renewable energy sources is set out in Article 2 of the Directive which states that renewables are: ”renewable non-fossil energy sources (wind, solar, geothermal, wave, tidal, hydropower, biomass, landfill gas, sewage treatment plant gas and biogases)”.
The project is funded by the European Commission Altener Programme.
