Guarantees of origin for gas, hydrogen, heat/cold
On behalf of the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA), FfE and project partners are researching the fundamentals for Guarantees of Origin (GOs) systems for renewable gases as well as renewable heating and cooling and unavoidable waste heat. In the next two years, possibilities of legal, procedural and technical implementation of the registers and conversion will be investigated.
Background and framework
Guarantees of origin (GOs) make it possible, even in the case of energy supply via grids, to trace the characteristics of energy production in the balance sheet and to allocate them to individual consumers. GOs thus serve as proof to end customers that a certain share or quantity of energy was generated from renewable sources and ensure that this origin can be guaranteed on the basis of objective, transparent and non-discriminatory criteria.
For electricity GOs, harmonized European frameworks have already been established for the mandatory establishment of guarantees of origin registers in the member states. In the course of the second Renewable Energy Directive (EU) 2018/2001 (“RED II”), member states have now been obliged to set up GO systems also for gases such as biomethane, synthetic gases and hydrogen as well as heating and cooling from renewable energies. For heating and cooling, the establishment of GO systems will for the first time provide a legally secure basis for the marketing of green district heating products. For gases, GOs will join mass balancing as a verification method.
Project Objectives
Against this background, the aim of the project is to provide a basis for the practical implementation of corresponding GO systems and for the further legal implementation of the obligations from Art. 19 RED II. It will identify options for the legal, procedural and technical implementation of the registries and the treatment of conversion processes – based on an analysis of the market contexts in which the registries are embedded. In addition, options are presented as to how the GO systems to be developed can themselves be designed to be as resilient as possible to changes in political, legal and systemic framework conditions.
Project Structure
The basic principles and proposals developed in the project build on various European standards and research projects. The work is carried out in four work packages:
- Preparation of analytical market overviews for renewable gases as well as heating and cooling from renewable energy sources and unavoidable waste heat
- Investigation of legal aspects of the construction of the GO systems for gases as well as heat and cold
- Elaboration of processes necessary for the operation of the GO registers for gases as well as heat and cold
- Drawing up of a technical specification for the future register system
In the project, FfE is engaged in the market analysis and the processes required for the GO registers for the energy carrier group of synthetic gases.
Project Partners
In addition to FfE, the project is being worked on by the partners Hamburg Institut, Becker Büttner Held, complement, Öko-Institut, and PlanEnergi. The project partners bring a wealth of experience both in market conditions and in verification systems for gases, hydrogen, and heating and cooling from renewable energies and unavoidable waste heat.
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