Demand for guarantees of origin for electricity rising strongly

Energiakolmio and Skapat Energia have purchased the brokerage business of GreenStream Network Plc, which is Europe’s best broker of green certificates.

Increasing interest in the origin of electricity and renewable energy has given a strong boost for the trade in certificates of origin for electricity.In Europe, the current size of the market is already about 300 TWh, and it is believed to grow considerably in the next few years.

Energiakolmio, the most significant energy management organisation in Northern Europe, and Skapat Energia have met this demand by purchasing the trading and emission compensation services for certificates of origin, green certificates and emission allowances of GreenStream Network Plc, which is the leading cleantech operator in the Nordic countries.

The market for certificates of origin for electricity in Europe has developed rapidly from the ‘zero level’ in 2001 to the current level of some 300 TWh. In monetary terms, the value of the market is in the region of EUR 50–250 million per annum. Economic trends are seen in the price of electricity and certificates of origin, although the biggest market driver is the ratio of supply and demand in certificates of origin.

‘In Europe, a vast majority, over 80% of the certificates of origin, are granted to and purchased for hydropower. The next most popular renewable energy sources are biomass and wind power. Geothermal energy and solar power are also rising,’ lists Janne Laine, Managing Director of Energiakolmio Portfolio Services Oy.

Laine regards the growth outlook of the market for certificates of origin as very significant. ‘Growth in Europe has been extremely rapid. We believe that the significance of certificates of origin will increase further in the next few years.’

The change in the market is also seen on the bottom line because for 2014 the company’s net sales already amount to several hundreds of thousands of euros with respect to certificates of origin.  Demand is also affected by the Act on Verification and Notification of Origin of Electricity, which entered into force in summer 2013.

‘Many European countries have corresponding systems on offer but, for example, in Finland the guarantees of origin are legally the only way to verify the origin of electricity marketed as renewable,’ Laine explains.

GreenStream’s brokerage business to Energiakolmio and Skapat

In order to strengthen their expertise related to the brokerage of certificates of origin, Energiakolmio and Skapat Energia purchased the brokerage business of the Finnish GreenStream Network Plc.

‘GreenStream is a leading Nordic cleantech company in its own field, and it has been selected 11 times as the best broker of green certificates in Europe,’ Laine points out.

‘GreenStream will provide us with more profound and more international expertise than before with respect to certificates of origin and the emissions market and, as a result, we will be able to meet the needs of overseas and Finnish customers even better than before.’

The transfer of the brokerage business to Energiakolmio and Skapat was also a natural step to GreenStream, which will now mainly focus on the Chinese energy efficiency and environmental markets.

Further information:

Managing Director Janne Laine, Energiakolmio Portfolio Services Oy tel. +358 40 838 0679

Managing Director Jussi Nykänen, GreenStream Network Oyj tel. +358 40 840 8001

Trading in certificates of origin in Finland and Europe:

Specialist Suvi Viljaranta, Energiakolmio Portfolio Services Oy tel. +358 50 430 5855

Specialist Michael Weber, Energiakolmio Portfolio Services Oy tel.  +49 177 8930 663

Issue and usage of certificates of origin (TWh) 2001–2013

The market trend is described in an excellent way by the trend in the issue and usage of certificates of origin for electricity (TWh) in 2001–2013.  ‘Issued’ describes the number of certificates issued and ‘cancelled’ the number of certificates used. The certificate is only valid for 12 months from the day of granting, which inevitably means that some certificates will also expire. Source: http://recs.org/documents/recs-international-2013-annual-report(slide 10)