Georgia starts issuing Guarantees of origin in 2023

Georgia becomes first Contracting Party to start using electronic registry for Guarantees of Origin for renewables developed within the Energy Community project. During the Energy Community-coordinated project a total of 9 registries were built by Grexel to enable the efficient implementation of Guarantees of Origin in the region. Energy Community expects additional contracts to be signed in 2023. This will enable the trading of EECS-compatible Guarantees of Origin in the participating domains.

The Georgian State Electrosystem signed an agreement with Grexel, part of EEX Group, to go live with their national electronic registry for Guarantees of Origin on 1 December 2022. They were the first project participant to do so. The system will go live 1.1.2023.  Guarantees of Origin allow consumers to choose the origin of their energy and in that way empower them to contribute to the energy transition. They are also key for enabling corporate Power Purchase Agreements.

Director Lorkowski , Director of Energy Community Secretariat, said: “I would like to congratulate Georgia for being the first Contracting Party to sign an agreement with the service provider Grexel and encourage others to follow its example. In particular in time of crisis, we need to utilize all available mechanisms to boost renewables.”

During the project Grexel built an EECS-compatible system for the participating contracting parties. While the Guarantees of Origin issued in non-EU countries are not yet recognized by the European regulation, the project created a regional registry that is fully technically compatible with the EU-system once  trading becomes possible.

CEO of Grexel Markus Klimscheffskij has been involved with the project from the early negotiations: “It has been a pleasure to help Energy Community and the contracting parties to establish a joint, well-functioning Guarantees of Origin system and to support in capacity building. Contracting Parties from all 9 domains have been extremely motivated to learn all aspects of Guarantees of Origin, from registry functions to reliable disclosure.”.

Mr Zviad Gachechiladze, Member of Board of Directors of Georgian State Electrosystem further elaborates: “We would like to thank the Energy Community Secretariat for their outstanding support to get the electronic registry for Guarantees of Origin up and running, as well as the whole team at Grexel. We are looking forward to start issuing Guarantees of Origin in line with EU standards and, hopefully soon, trading Guarantees of Origin with other Contracting Parties and EU Member States.”

Under the regional project implemented by the Energy Community Secretariat from January to July 2022, electronic registries for Guarantees of Origin have been created for Albania, two entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo*, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro and Ukraine. All 9 registries are ready to go-live following the signing of direct agreements between the Contracting Parties’ issuing bodies and the service provider Grexel. After two or more Contracting Parties sign an agreement, they will be able to trade Guarantees of Origin through the regional system established by Grexel.

Energy Community expects to see more contracts signed by the deadline in June 2023. The service provider will keep the national registries and all configurations on stand-by until this date.