Guarantees of origin (GO)
Gasgrid Finland is the registrar of the register of guarantees of origin for gas and hydrogen and is authorized to issue both national and European EECS (European Energy Certificate Systems) GOs. EECS GOs are based on a unified European system developed by the Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB). GOs between AIB member countries are transferred electronically through the Hub.
Gas and hydrogen GOs are used to ensure that gas and hydrogen are produced from renewable energy sources. The GO refers to an electronic document which serves as evidence to the end user that a certain proportion or quantity of energy has been produced using renewable sources.
GOs are issued for gases and hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources in Finland. GOs are not required if the energy is not sold or marketed as renewable. In uncertain situations, the need for GO should be verified from the Energy Authority go@energiavirasto.fi.
According to Energy Authority regulations the obligation to certify the origin of gas and hydrogen informed as having been produced from renewable energy sources must be met by cancelling GOs allocated to the previous calendar year with the registrar by 31 March the following year.
Obligation to verify the origin of gas and hydrogen with a guarantee of origin has started on 1 July 2022.
Terms and fees
The terms of the Domain Protocol define the procedures, rights and obligations in force in Finland in relation to gas and hydrogen GO.
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: In April, July, October and January, always the previous three (3) months at a time. The fixed charges are invoiced in April. The fixed charges for recently registered users are invoiced with the following quarterly invoice. The service fees as of 1 January 2024 have been published on November 28, 2023.
Joining the GO register
The register of GO is joined by registration as an account holder. The account holder may make the necessary cancellations, internal register transfers and foreign transfers in the register of GO.
The application for account holder is made by filling in and signing a Standard Terms and Conditions (STC) with Gasgrid Finland. Please, request the STC via email from customerservice@gasgrid.fi. The STC will be signed by using a digital signature and if digital signing is not possible, the conventional way of signing the STC on paper can be used.
The STC with the appendixes (a contact information form, an extract from the Trade Register or an equivalent official document and the names of persons authorized to sign and represent the Company) is sent to Gasgrid Finland customerservice@gasgrid.fi. Gasgrid Finland evaluates and accepts the information and start a digital signature process. In a case of paper signature process the contracting party sends two signed copies of the STC to Gasgrid Finland Oy, Keilaranta 13-19 B, FI-02150 Espoo. Gasgrid Finland signs the STC and returns one copy to the contracting party.
After the STC contract has been signed, Gasgrid Finland creates signing-in credentials for G-REX for the account holders’ administrator, who can add users to the register from their own organisations.
Conversion procedure
When converting energy from one energy carrier to another, the end product can be issued with a GO if the origin of the energy during production has been verified by cancelling GOs, or if the origin can otherwise be reliably verified. In the GO system, this process is called energy carrier’s conversion. 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.
- Read more:
- Conversion instructions
Transfer between countries
EECS GOs are transferred (import and export) electronically through the Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB) Hub between AIB’s so-called gas member countries, which are Finland, Latvia, Austria, and Spain (as of 3/2024). More countries are expected to join. 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. 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.
Functions and events
See the events and their recordings and materials on our Finnish guarantees of origin site. Upon request the user trainings and the status updates can be organized in English. You can register on the distribution list of our email bulletins at customerservice@gasgrid.fi and ask for more information as well.
