Demand for green-energy Guarantees of Origin, EU certification enabling end consumers, including domestic consumers, to track the origins of electricity they consume, has grown significantly over recent months, leading to a shortage of GO certificates and price rises several times over levels recorded a year earlier.

With the GO deadline for electricity usage in 2022 expiring today, a number of companies have scrambled to cover their basket of green-energy products last year, and needed to spend significantly increased amounts.

Around this time last year, suppliers in Greece could secure green-energy certificates at a price of between 0.30 and 0.55 euros per MWh, but prices have soared tenfold over the past twelve months to levels of between 4 and 6 euros per MWh at present, market sources have informed.

Demand for GO certificates grew considerably around Europe in 2022, leading to a shortage in Greece as a first round of auctions for domestic GOs has yet to take place following the establishment, last summer, of a new trading system for the acquisition of GO certificates in Greece.

The Guarantee of Origin (GO) is the main and only electricity tracking instrument in Europe that gives electricity consumers the power to actively choose sustainable power production over fossil-fuel based electricity and hence send market signals about their demand.