Demand for energy guarantees of origin in Czech Republic surged 32% last year

Interest in proving the origin of supplied energy in the form of electricity, heat or biomethane rose by 32% year-on-year in the Czech Republic last year. Of the more than 6.5 million energy guarantees of origin cancelled in the Czech Republic last year, guarantees of origin for electricity accounted for the overwhelming majority. This follows from information published by the Czech market operator, OTE, a.s.

OTE, a.s. said that, in addition to the number of cancelled guarantees of origin for supplied energy, international trade in these certificates also grew last year – imports increased by 44% to 5.2 million certificates and exports by as much as 98% to 7.2 million certificates.

“Based not only on the statistical results, we can state that the guarantees of origin system works both in the domestic context and at the European level. At the same time, it is clear that the area of guarantees of origin has potential for further development. The importance of guarantees of origin for nuclear energy has increased, developments are taking place in biomethane, and liquidity in the guarantees of origin market has also grown. Amendments contained in the Energy Act revision, known as lex RES III, should also contribute to further development. For example, it is planned that the price of guarantees for selected generating facilities will no longer be set at a fixed level, but through auctions – in other words, by the market.” says Michal Puchel, Chairman of the Board of Directors of OTE, a.s.

A total of 5.8 million guarantees of origin for electricity were issued last year, corresponding to 5.8 TWh of electricity, or around 10% of last year's electricity consumption in the Czech Republic.

According to the published statistics, the number of guarantees of origin issued for electricity from nuclear power plants increased by almost 300%. Conversely, guarantees of origin for electricity generated from renewable energy sources declined – by 83% for solar power plants and by as much as 85% for wind power plants.

This was mainly due to the administrative setting of fixed prices for guarantees of origin for electricity produced at generating facilities receiving investment or operating support, which were above market price levels. The decline in the number of guarantees of origin for renewable electricity issued in the Czech Republic was replaced by guarantees of origin issued for nuclear electricity and imports of guarantees of origin from abroad,” the market operator added.

First biomethane guarantees from generating facilities in the Czech Republic

While the number of issued and cancelled guarantees of origin for electricity is in the millions, the market for these certificates for heat and biomethane is only at the beginning of its development.

The number of guarantees of origin issued for heat totalled 16.8 thousand last year. Just under 40 thousand guarantees of origin were then cancelled. In the case of biomethane, the first-ever guarantees of origin from facilities registered in the Czech Republic were issued last year. A total of 57 956 were issued in 2024, with 24 330 cancelled.

Guarantees of origin are used to prove the origin of energy produced and supplied to the final customer. Among other things, they are also used to assess and demonstrate the degree of companies' or citizens' environmental impact, for example in connection with sustainable business principles (ESG).