Greece schedules first auction for guarantees of origin

Greece’s Renewable Energy Sources Operator and Guarantees of Origin, DAPEEP, said the country’s first auction for guarantees of origin would take place on June 26.

Guarantees of origin or GOs are financial products certifying that a specific amount of power was produced from renewable energy sources and not fossil fuels.

Originally, the first auction was to take place in January 2024, but it was pushed back to June.

Three types of products will be offered and they all cover energy produced in the last quarter of 2023: solar and wind within the interconnected system and wind farms in non-interconnected islands.

DAPEEP: 4.44 TWh will be offered

According to DAPEEP’s head of GOs Maria Koulouvari, in 2023 guarantees were published for 22.4 TWh of renewable energy, out of which 4.44 TWh will be auctioned since the entirety of the year is not covered.

The starting price has been set at EUR 0.10 per MWh, down from EUR 0.50 per MWh originally planned, to ensure the success of the process given the fact that market prices have fallen recently.

According to DAPEEP’s plan, two more auctions are scheduled for 2024, with one on September 25 for energy produced in the first quarter of 2024 and another, on December 15, for the second quarter of this year.

Participants can already register for the upcoming first auction. The regulatory framework was earlier approved by the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water (RAAEY).

The GOs will help Greek electricity suppliers attain the necessary renewables share in their mix for 2023. They are added to 28% of the demand already met with free GOs. However, imports are also needed: so far they have reached 1.38 TWh, according to Koulouvari.

Apart from suppliers, in recent years an increasing number of companies and institutions want to boost the share of renewables in their consumption or reach carbon neutrality, which requires verification through the GO market.