The Guarantee of Origin Register for electricity generated from renewable energy sources was launched at TGE on 3 November 2014, with cogeneration technologies added to its scope nearly five years later, on 2 October 2019. A decade after the Register went live, the President of the Energy Regulatory Office issued the first guarantees of origin for heat, expanding the GOR with a new module. Plans include the introduction of guarantees for other energy carriers such as cooling, renewable hydrogen, biomethane, biogas and farm biogas.
‘A lot has changed since we launched the Guarantees of Origin Register in 2014. The energy transition gained momentum, which resulted in, among other things, a strong interest in guarantees of origin, and the number of entities registered with the GOR has been growing year by year. Naturally, there were other instrumental factors such as the incorporation of ESG strategies into companies’ business lines and the related need for transparency in production, or the growing public awareness. Companies' environmental reputations are not just slogans anymore; they increasingly reflect their accountability for the policies they adopt. All these trends can be seen in the GOR development, and given that renewables are the future, TGE is boldly entering this future by planning further upgrades of the modules available in the GOR’ says Mariusz Buraczyński, TGE’s Vice-President for Operations.
The guarantees of origin are an element of the EU’s environmental policy to ensure disclosure of the types of sources and fuels used for electricity generation. This allows companies to demonstrate their care for the environment (to mark the green origin of energy, i.e. to differentiate it from that produced from conventional sources), which fits in with the objectives of the energy transition on a macro level while being an excellent tool for the implementation of the ESG strategy of individual entities on a micro level. The guarantees are therefore the instrument through which companies can truly enhance their green reputation.
‘The guarantees have become one of the material instruments supporting the development of renewable sources of electricity in Poland. Thanks to the register operated by TGE, the Energy Regulatory Office has already issued more than 70,000 documents of this type to entities interested in using green energy. To my great satisfaction, ten years after we had started trading in the guarantees for electricity, we could issue the first guarantees of origin for heat. I am convinced that further heat generators will also be interested in obtaining the instrument. As the industry regulator, I also believe that a good moment has come for a thorough review of the system for issuing the guarantees of origin, to streamline and accelerate the procedures’ adds Rafał Gawin, President of the Energy Regulatory Office.
Over the last few years, we have seen a rapid growth of the guarantee of origin market, both in Poland and abroad. In its first year of operation, the local register had 56 entities, with their number growing to over 3,100 after ten years. The total volume of trading in guarantees of origin for electricity generated from RES between 2014 and 2024 amounted to 219.3 TWh, with January 2024 being the record month (7.4 TWh).