Georgia becomes first Contracting Party to start using electronic registry for guarantees of origin for renewables developed under Energy Community project

The Georgian State Electrosystem became the first issuing body to sign an agreement with the service provider on the go-live of the national electronic registry for guarantees of origin for energy from renewable sources. 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 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.”

Mr Zviad Gachechiladze, Member of Board of Directors of Georgian State Electrosystem, said: “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*¹, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro and Ukraine. All nine 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 the service provider.

The deadline for signing an agreement is June 2023. The service provider will keep the national registries and all configurations on stand-by until this date.

¹ * This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.