Blockchain and Guarantees of Origin – recommendations REDII Article 19.8

The Guarantee of Origin (GO) is an instrument created to track and document renewable electricity and gas, and to allow households and businesses a real choice of power source. Businesses of different sizes and across all industries purchase GOs to document their renewable claims, as basis for their sustainability reporting and CO₂ emission calculation.

The Guarantees of Origin is a robust instrument. It is neutral in terms of the underlying technology infrastructure.

Blockchain

The development of Blockchain as a relevant IT technology is exciting. Blockchain may over time have the power to spur change and transition in the energy sector.

One area in which Blockchain may have a role to play is in documenting the origin of electricity generation.

Today, the system of Guarantees of Origin has been in place for almost 15 years, and is enjoying increased recognition from consumers, businesses and key stakeholders. The Guarantee of Origin is a standard defined to allow consumer & companies to purchase their preferred choice of power – choosing technology, location, producer profile or other key characteristics.

The system of Guarantee of Origin is not technology dependent, but rather technology agnostic, and the industry should seek to utilize the best underlying technology available at any time to provide the best possible service/product.

This means that Blockchain will not replace the Guarantee of Origin system, but could provide a compelling value to the market by providing a better and improved underlying technology infrastructure.

If Blockchain can provide an infrastructure which is cheaper and more efficient to operate, more transparent and secure, while creating more value for the market participants – Blockchain should be embraced by the industry.

But if Blockchain is positioned as an alternative policy tool to the Guarantee of Origin, there is a high risk that 15 years of hard work will be jeopardized, creating confusion among customers, weakening credibility among stakeholders, and increasing the risk of creating double counting.

Recommendations

1. Embrace and support the use of new and promising technology like But ensure that Blockchain and other similar new technologies comply with the European standard for tracking energy production – the Guarantees of Origin system.
2. Avoid creating parallel & alternative standards for tracking renewable electricity and gas, by supporting the use of the word SHALL
   in Article 19.8.

In our opinion, it is crucial that this remains unchanged, and will in no way hinder the use of new technology like Blockchain.

The use of the word SHALL is consistent with the intention and content of the rest of REDII and Article 19. It confirms that only Guarantees of Origin can be used as basis for renewable claims and disclosure and makes the GO mandatory for making renewable claims.

We hope that you will take our comments into account in the process of establishing a final compromise text on REDII and remain at your disposal for any questions or comments.