Registration

The Estonian guarantee of origin system administrator is the joint system operator, who issues guarantees of origin in Estonia and manages the electronic database of guarantees of origin (hereinafter, the register). Operations related to the issuance, transfer, and cancellation of biomethane guarantees of origin are carried out in the register.

The standard conditions for the use of biomethane and hydrogen guarantees of origin set out the terms and procedures under which a market participant can perform operations with guarantees of origin. The standard conditions are established pursuant to § 32¹⁰, subsection 12 of the Energy Industry Act.

A biomethane guarantee of origin is issued to a biomethane producer to certify the origin of the energy produced and its carbon emissions.

A biomethane producer is a market participant who produces biomethane using a production facility located in Estonia and is issued biomethane guarantees of origin for the production. A biomethane producer can transfer the guarantees of origin issued to them.

Operations related to the issuance and transfer of guarantees of origin are carried out through an open account in the register. To open an account in the register, the biomethane producer submits an application using the form developed by Elering. The standard conditions for the use of biomethane and hydrogen guarantees of origin are an integral part of the application. In the account opening application, the applicant must confirm that they have read and agreed to the standard conditions. In addition, the biomethane producer submits a production facility registration application using the form developed by Elering. To issue biomethane guarantees of origin, the biomethane producer must have an open producer account in the register, and the production facility must be properly registered in the register.

To demonstrate compliance with the sustainability criteria for biomethane, the biomethane producer submits a valid certificate issued under a voluntary scheme recognized by the European Commission (https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/renewableenergy/bioenergy/voluntary-schemes_en). Compliance with the sustainability criteria must cover the entire production chain of the certified biomethane.

If, after 15 June 2022, a production facility receives state investment support or a decision is made regarding the start of a support period for the facility, guarantees of origin are generally not issued to the producer.

The issuance of biomethane guarantees of origin to the biomethane producer requires the submission of measurement data to Elering’s gas data warehouse, registration of the measurement point in the data warehouse in the register, and the submission of fuel data in the register.

Application forms developed by the register administrator are available in the annex on the website. To open a biomethane producer account and register a biomethane production facility in the register, the biomethane producer submits the following documents to the email address biometaan@elextra.ee:

• Application for registration in the biomethane producer role;
• Application for registration of the biomethane production facility;
• Confirmation letter regarding receipt/non-receipt of support;
• Certificate demonstrating compliance with the biomethane sustainability criteria.