On 3 November 2014, Towarowa Giełda Energii (TGE) launched the Guarantees of Origin Register (GOR). For five years now it has been the trading platform for the guarantees of origin of electricity generated from RES, and since 2 October 2019 also from high-efficiency cogeneration units.
The Guarantee of Origin Register makes part of the European Union’s environmental policy. It was established on the basis of Directive 2009/28/EC, implemented in Poland in 2013, which requires that registers of guarantees be set up in EU countries. The objective of this measure is to identify the types of sources and fuels used to generate electricity, and to provide certification of the origin of the electricity to generators and stakeholders.
Since it is not possible to label electricity as such, a system of guarantees has been set up, i.e. documents that are produced in connection with electricity generation and expire when the electricity is delivered to the final customer. Initially, the GOR was used solely for trading “green energy” (RES) guarantees, which contributed to the significant development of the renewable energy sector. In October 2019, the GOR offering was extended by guarantees of origin from high-efficiency cogeneration units. Its generators obtain a document certifying that a certain amount of electricity supplied to the distribution network or transmission network was produced in the process of combined heat and power generation (i.e. cogeneration or CHP).
‘In 5 years’ time, the Guarantee of Origin Register has become a very important part of TGE’s activity. This is confirmed not only by the number of Members, currently there are over 530 of them, but also by the growing volume of trade every month. We see a huge potential in Polish guarantees of origin, therefore we are working on adapting the GOR to European standards and adding further generation technologies. We hope that soon the our legal regulations will change and Polish guarantees will be available for sale abroad’ said Marek Szałas, Director of the Registers Office of TGE.
Guarantees of origin are issued by the President of the Energy Regulatory Office and then uploaded to the TGE’s IT system. Each document has a unique number and validity date. After that date the guarantee expires and is deleted from the Register. The difference between guarantees of origin from CHP and guarantees of origin from RES is related to the validity period. Guarantees of origin from RES are valid for 12 months from the end of electricity production, while guarantees of origin from CHP are valid for 12 months from the date of issuance by the Energy Regulatory Office.
Guarantees of origin are not a commodity and their trading takes place directly in the Guarantee of Origin Register of TGE.
TGE