Open Access

Evaluating Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin for Achieving European Clean Energy Targets

https://doi.org/10.55640/ijrgse-v03i09-02

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Haruto Nakamura ¹ , Yui Tanaka ¹ ,

⁴ Department of Sustainable Energy Engineering, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

⁴ Department of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

Abstract

The expansion of renewable electricity in Europe requires not only physical deployment of renewable generation but also reliable mechanisms for identifying, tracking, and communicating the renewable attributes associated with electricity. Guarantees of Origin (GOs) represent an important instrument in this context because they provide an accounting mechanism through which renewable electricity attributes can be certified and transferred. This research evaluates the relevance of GOs for achieving European clean energy targets by examining their relationship with renewable electricity accounting, consumer disclosure, additionality, market coordination, and emerging applications such as green hydrogen. The study adopts a structured analytical methodology based exclusively on the provided literature, integrating perspectives on energy attribute certificates, renewable energy certificate markets, electricity markets, greenhouse-gas accounting, renewable transport fuels, and European energy-system development. The analysis indicates that GOs can improve transparency and market-based allocation of renewable attributes, but their contribution to physical renewable deployment depends strongly on additionality, temporal and spatial matching, market design, and regulatory integration. The findings further indicate that increasing temporal resolution and coordinating certification with interconnected electricity systems can improve the credibility of renewable electricity claims. Consequently, GOs should be viewed not merely as documentation instruments but as components of a broader renewable-energy governance architecture.

Keywords

Guarantees of Origin, Renewable Energy, Energy Attribute Certificates, European Energy Policy

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Evaluating Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin for Achieving European Clean Energy Targets

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