Guarantees of origin (GO)

Gasgrid Finland is the registrar of the registry of guarantees of origin for gas and hydrogen and is authorised to issue both national and European EECS (European Energy Certificate Systems) GOs. EECS guarantees of origin are based on a harmonised European system developed and maintained by the Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB). AIB manages a centralised information system hub which enables the transfer of GOs between national registers.
 
Gas and hydrogen GOs are used to ensure that gas and hydrogen are produced from renewable energy sources. GOs are electronic documents which serve as evidence to the end user that a certain proportion or quantity of energy has been produced using renewable sources.
 
GOs are issued to gas and hydrogen produced in Finland from renewable energy sources. GOs allocated to the calendar year must be cancelled (used) by 31 March the following year.

The terms of the Domain Protocol define the procedures, rights and obligations in force in Finland in relation to gas and hydrogen GOs, in terms of both national and European EECS GOs. 

The GO system charges consist of fixed charges and use-based charges. Use-based charges are invoiced four times a year in arrears, by quarter the previous three (3) months at a time. The fixed charges are invoiced in April. The fixed charges for recently registered users are invoiced in the following quarterly invoice.

Producers of gas and hydrogen from renewable energy sources, gas users and market participants can join the GO register regardless of whether the gas is injected into the transmission or distribution network or produced or used outside the natural gas network (offgrid production). 
 
To join the GO register, you must register as an account holder. 
 

Instructions for joining in a nutshell:

• Familiarise yourself with the contents of the documents, especially the Domain Protocol and Standard Terms and Conditions, STC.
  
• Send your company’s name, address and business ID, and the name, title and email address of the person signing the STC to customerservice@gasgrid.fi. Gasgrid will save the information in the STC to be signed.

• Attach a contact form, Trade Register extract or a similar official document, and the names of the people with right of representation. 
  
• Gasgrid Finland is committed to operating responsibly and we ask all of our customers to respond to the KYC (Know Your Customer) questionnaire. Please provide an email address so that we can send the questionnaire.
  
• You will most likely also need one or more powers of attorney. A power of attorney gives the registrant (the authorised administrator of the register) the authorisation to act in the register. A power of attorney is also required in aggregation services and if the ownership share of the registrant or its subsidiary is a maximum of 90% of the production device.
  
• Send all of the required attachments to the same email address customerservice@gasgrid.fi from which you can request additional information.
  
•  
• The signing of the document primarily takes place electronically using Telia Sign. Gasgrid begins the process by having the customer sign the STC first. The STC is therefore not signed before it is sent to Gasgrid. If you choose to sign a printed version, please ask for further instructions at customerservice@gasgrid.fi.
  
• After the STC is signed, Gasgrid will create login credentials in G-REX for the account holder’s administrator, who can then add register users from their own organisation. 

The owner of a production device or a registrant it has duly authorised can register the production device in the register as an account holder. A production device can only be registered if it meets the authorisation criteria of the GO system. In order to be accepted into the gas GO register, the production device must be located in Finland (excl. Åland), and it must be able to produce renewable gas and be verified. The verification instructions and approved assessment institutions are available on the Energy Authority’s website. Please note that verification of the GO is not the same thing as sustainability verification.

When converting energy from one energy carrier to another, for example when electricity is used to produce hydrogen, the end product (hydrogen) can be issued with a GO if the origin of the energy (electricity) during production has been verified by cancelling GOs, or if the origin can otherwise be reliably verified. This process is called the conversion of the energy carrier. To prevent double calculation, an amount of the energy carrier’s GOs corresponding to the used energy must be cancelled during the conversion before the amount of energy produced in the conversion process can be issued GOs for the created energy carrier.

EECS GOs are transferred (import and export) electronically through the Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB) Hub between the members of the AIB’s Gas Scheme Group. The list of the Gas Scheme Group members can be found from AIB’s page.

For other GOs, manual Ex-Domain Cancellation can be agreed upon between EU/EEA countries, provided the transferred GOs meet the legislative requirements. Gasgrid Finland handles Ex-Domain Cancellation requests on a case-by-case basis. For Ex-Domain Cancellations, please contact customerservice@gasgrid.fi well in advance, preferably at least 2 weeks before the planned cancellation. It is important to note that the origin of gas and hydrogen can only be verified by transferred GOs administered by Gasgrid Finland, either through the AIB transfer hub or as Ex-Domain Cancellation. This applies to both imported and exported GOs.

If you need to use a Teams connection to verify Ex-Domain Cancellations, please book a 15-minute slot well in advance by emailing customerservice@gasgrid.fi. Teams slots can be booked for Tuesdays from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. (EET) and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. (EET). Cancellations must be made well in advance of the 12-month validity period of the GOs, and in conversion cases, more than one month in advance.

Events and their materials can be found on our Events page.

You can register for our GO customer bulletin distribution list at customerservice@gasgrid.fi.