Guarantees of Origin depict the renewable source of green power. According to the Directive on electricity from renewable sources (RES-E), this administrative document should be introduced in a way that makes GoO cross border trade possible. At present, only five of all 25 EU Member States are treating the GoO in a standardised way, facilitating cross border trade. This standard, EECS (European Electricity Certificate Standard), containing some extra information additional to the minimal GoO requirements, is issued by the official issuing bodies.

During a Brussels press briefing by RECS International, also attended by Eurelectric Secretary General Paul Bulteel, both organisations pointed out several negative consequences of the poor introduction of GoOs. Most explicit was Bulteel’s allegation referring to the shortcomings of reaching the 2010 target, that “a market based system would have performed better than the current systems.” RECS International chairman Claes Hedenström refined this: “Introducing a standardised GoO system will not make sure that the EU targets for 2010 will be met, but it will help. Furthermore, it will not be easy to see which systems are most efficient: feed-in tariffs or quota obligations. The characteristics of most systems cannot be compared easily.”

Main point for RECS International and Eurelectric is, that they believe an internal green energy market, facilitated by a certificates trade market, will lower the cost of green energy. The idea behind this is simple terms is that e.g. wind energy will be generated in windy places and biomass energy next to woods.

Furthermore, GoOs have an important role in the disclosure of the fuel mix, which is mandatory for all power suppliers in Europe.   RECS International Secretary General Peter Niermeijer: “Most governments are very unclear about the status of their GoOs. This is very risky for the customer’s confidence in the green power market. They pay extra to purchase green power, therefore they are entitled to get good quality of the information.”

Niermeijer also wants to remove a misunderstanding: “Certificates or standard GoOs don’t offer any constraints for any support mechanism, be it feed-in tariffs or quota obligations. GoOs promote a transparent market.”