On Thursday, 14 July, the Saeima supported in the third and final reading amendments to the Energy Law, stipulating the development of a gas origin certificate issue, circulation, and control system for gas obtained from renewable energy sources.

Krišjānis Feldmans, Chair of the Economic, Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Policy Committee, which is responsible for advancing the Draft Law, had previously stated: “There is currently an origin certificate system for electricity produced from renewable resources, but not for gas. We must develop a system for gas in order to prove to our energy consumers or end-users that the amount of gas in question was produced from renewable energy resources and to monitor its flow.”

The amendments stipulate that a producer generating biogas, biomethane, or synthetic gas from renewable energy resources may request an electronic gas origin certificate per each energy unit of gas produced. The gas origin certificate will be issued for a specific amount of energy—one gigawatt hour.

The gas origin certificate may be requested and received both for gas obtained from renewable energy resources and added to the gas network, as well as for gas that is produced, traded, and used outside the network.

Gas origin certificates shall be issued and managed by a single natural gas transmission and storage system operator. The single natural gas transmission and storage system operator will also be able to recognise gas origin certificates issued in other European Union member states. The operator will also ensure the development, management, and maintenance of an electronic register where the data related to gas origin certificates will be registered, stored, and processed.

Saeima Press Service