How to get started with Granular Guarantees of Origin (GGO)?

What are GGOs?

Guarantees of Origin confirm where renewable energy has been sourced from using a verified certification. They report this energy source annually, allowing businesses that purchase it to be fully transparent regarding their energy procurement. Granular Guarantees of Origin differ from traditional Guarantees of Origin because of the ‘granular' aspect, which refers to the close-time periodic increments that energy procurement can be tracked, which is as costly as half an hour.  

Why are GGOs important for businesses and sustainability?

Enhanced transparency in energy sourcing 

Granular Guarantees of Origin allow more clarity over where the energy is sourced, clearly stating whether a business consumes renewable or fossil fuels and how much. This makes it easier for potential clients or partners to decide whether to do business with a company based on its sustainability credentials. In some cases, renewable energy can be sourced directly from the power plant that generated it, allowing energy procurers to support a specific type of renewable energy.  

Better carbon accounting, reporting accuracy and regulatory compliance 

Granular Guarantees of Origin allow energy procurement reporting down to the specific half-hour that is generated, which means that reporting carbon emission reduction activity for regulatory compliance is much more precise. It allows a business to build an accurate model of its carbon footprint, highlighting areas where carbon emissions have been reduced and sustainability investment increased. This will become key as crucial mandatory carbon emission target deadlines begin to approach.  

Alignment with net-zero goals, ESG strategies and sustainability commitments 

Businesses are beginning to see the importance of tangible ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) goals to set them apart from competitors and appeal to consumers and partners who align with similar ESG goals. The most relevant ESG goal in relation to Guarantees of Origin is the Environment element, and Guarantees of Origin can help reinforce environmental claims by highlighting the source and amount of renewable energy a business procures. This also proves beneficial to proving ESG goals as more mandatory directives begin to be introduced.  

How to get started with Granular Guarantees of Origin 

Granular Guarantees of Origin can be a good way to strengthen your business’ sustainability presence, but are they appropriate for your business? We take a look at the best way that Guarantees of Origin can be successfully streamlined into your business’ energy consumption model.  

Step 1: Understand your energy needs 

The process begins with evaluating your business’ current energy consumption patterns. Granular Guarantees of Origin are desirable because of their ability to track renewables spending down to half hour increments which is good for companies looking take a close view of energy procurement. It’s important that you determine the need for granular tracking. Are ESG goals key to your businesses’ success? Do your carbon emissions need to be reduced across all operations, or do you provide feedback regularly to stakeholders from a sustainability perspective? If so, granular reporting could be beneficial. If your business doesn’t require this level of detailed reporting, you could consider another type of Guarantee of Origin that could be more suitable for your reporting needs.   

Step 2: Choose the Right GGO platform or provider 

Next you need to consider what to look for in a potential provider. Is reliability your key concern, with stakeholders requiring regular updates on sustainability performance, or is the transparency around the certification standards a potential provider uses more important? 

Certain technologies and systems offer clearer visibility of the Guarantees of Origin market via dashboards and interfaces, allowing more transparency to those within the business who need access to the data generated by Granular Guarantees of Origin. GreenPowerHub is a platform that facilitates the trade of EECS, I-RECS and other EACs. 

Next you need to consider what to look for in a potential provider. Is reliability your key concern, with stakeholders requiring regular updates on sustainability performance, or is the transparency around the certification standards a potential provider uses more important? 

Step 3: Integrate GGOs into your energy strategy 

As carbon footprints become a primary concern for businesses, the close reporting that Granular Guarantees of Origin provide can be desirable to carbon-conscious investors. Carbon-conscious investors are companies that take into account the impact of the sustainability behaviour that potential investors and suppliers can have on their own carbon footprint.

If your business operates on an international basis, you might also want to examine how you can combine your granular guarantees with renewable energy certificates and other tools, as not all certificates are recognised across all regions. You might want to invest in a Guarantee of Origin provider, which trades in both national and international platforms. For example, in 2020 the EU stopped recognising UK’s Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) and in 2023 the UK stopped recognising EU Guarantees of Origin in the same way it does its own REGOs. 

Step 4: Monitor, report, and optimise 

One of the key benefits of a Granular Guarantee of Origin is the visibility it gives you over how your business is reducing carbon emissions.  Guarantees of Origin can be beneficial for businesses looking to leverage data to optimise their energy use and influence desired sustainability outcomes. But it’s important that this becomes ‘useful data’, i.e., it's used to influence future strategies around sustainability. The half-hourly reporting increments allow close monitoring, which can then be used to produce regular reports showing the energy procurement health of a business for key stakeholders and investors, as well as help to form an accurate carbon footprint for the business. Once this carbon footprint is accurately realised, optimisation changes to energy buying behaviour can be made, for example, by purchasing an increased amount of renewable energy.  

Challenges and considerations in Granular Guarantees of Origin

As with all modern monitoring methods, Guarantees of Origin do come with their drawbacks, we take a look at some of the key ones to consider.  

Costs associated with granular tracking 

Granular Guarantees of Origin can often be more expensive because of the level of detail they can report. However, these can be offset by having greater control of the market and trading. Certain technologies and systems offer clearer visibility of the Guarantees of Origin market via dashboards and interfaces.

Potential regulatory challenges integrating GGOs with existing systems depending on region 

Sometimes, the regulation of certain regions can impact how transparent a business is about its sustainability efforts via Granular Guarantees of Origin. For example, the unavailability of the UK’s Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) in the EU and the unavailability of EU Guarantees of Origin in the UK can mean that electricity suppliers can no longer disclose EU Guarantees of Origin as a mix of energy sources in a supplier Fuel Mix Disclosure. In America, certain regions do recognise and allow the transfer of certificates between certain regions, though these are also accompanied by restrictions.  

By following these steps, you can seamlessly adopt GGOs and enhance your business’s sustainability and energy credibility.