Catalysed by the European Union’s RES Directive, Guarantee of Origin is the official standard to certify the origin of renewable electricity in Europe. Along side the Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB) market, individual countries are trading their own national GOs within the voluntary market. The GOs can be issued for:

-        Cooling

-        Electricity

-        Gas (including hydrogen)

-        Heating

Assurance of legitimate sustainability of the energy in accordance with the RES Directive criteria comes from elements such as:

-        Unique serial number

-        Location

-        Technology

-        Installed capacity of given power plant

-        Commissioning date

-        To either cooling, electricity, or heating

Strict criteria for the production of green electricity of specialised labels can be an additional option for further improvements (e.g. social improvements and additional funding for surrounding areas). Not to be included with physical electricity, one GO always represents one input of MWh of renewable or green electricity into the power grid.