Gas Power Certificates (Biomethane Certificates)

The Guarantee of Origin (GoO) for biomethane is a certification scheme that verifies the production and characteristics of biomethane, ensuring transparency and accountability in the biomethane market. It functions similarly to guarantees of origin for renewable electricity, providing documentation that demonstrates the origin and environmental attributes of the biomethane produced. Biomethane producers undergo a certification process to verify that their production methods meet specific sustainability criteria and environmental standards. This process may involve assessing the feedstock used for biomethane production, the efficiency of the production process, and the environmental impact of the entire lifecycle of the biomethane.

These certificates, which like their electrical counterparts stand for 1MWh of biomethane supplied to the grid, can be used in many European countries. Unlike electricity certificates, biomethane GOs are still mainly managed by national registries, the most common of which are:

German(DENA) French(EEX) Spanish(Enagas) Dutch(VertiCer) Danish(Energinet) Swiss(VSG, Pronovo)

Certificates related to biofuels supplied to the Italian market

In 2006, Italy aimed to develop the supply chain and reduce atmospheric emissions from the transport sector by mandating obligations on petrol and diesel suppliers to distribute biofuels.

Based on the EU Directives, by 2020, biofuels will have to constitute 10% of the traditional petrol and diesel quotas. The GSE monitors and verifies these obligations on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Development, thanks to the BIOCAR platform.

Under the conditions for paying duty on petrol and diesel, all transport suppliers are required to distribute a share of sustainable biofuels.

The minimum annual quantity of biofuels is calculated, starting from 2015, based on the energy content expressed in Giga calories (Gcal) of fossil fuels distributed in the same year.

The Renewable Gas Guarantees of Origin (RGGOs) is designed to encourage the supply of low-carbon energy.

The Green Gas Certification Scheme issues these certificates to biomethane producers for each kWh produced. To verify that gas is environmentally friendly and to document information about its production origin, such as where, when, and how.

Renewable Gas Guarantees of Origin (RGGOs) can be sold alongside the gas or traded. Anyone involved in the green gas supply chain can participate in the Green Gas Certification Scheme. The main actors are green gas producers who register their injected output to the grid, suppliers, and RGGOs traders.