As of 1 February, the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority (MEKH) joined the EECS system, which means that the Hungarian guarantees of origin (GOs) may enter the international market.
The accession of MEKH was approved by the Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB), the international organization representing the
European authorities responsible for issuing GOs, of which the Hungarian regulatory authority has been a member since 2021. The EECS system (European Energy Certificate System) was developed by AIB to provide standardized regulations for issuing GOs by its members.
GO is a marketable electronic document which has the sole function of providing proof to a final customer that a given share or quantity of energy was produced from renewable sources or from high efficiency cogeneration. GOs are used in the European Union member states and in other European countries for proving the origin of the used electricity.
By the registration of the membership, GOs related to production following 1 February 2022 will qualify as EECS GOs, accepted on the
international markets. The international trade of the GOs is facilitated by the Hub operated by AIB, establishing electronic communication among the registries of the member states. Trading via the Hub is expected to commence on 1 March 2022.
It is a new element that for the foreign GOs received from within the EECS system, no application is required to be filed to HEA for
recognizing the foreign GO, because such GOs will be traded via the Hub. However, for the GOs arriving from outside the EECS system, it will be possible to file applications for recognizing the foreign GO.
Since 1 January 2014, MEKH has been providing GOs and operating the registry. Over the past 8 years, MEKH has registered 5 721 363 GOs for account holders. In 2021, the renewable origin of 1,683.566 GWh of electricity consumption was certified by means of a GO certificate. This represents approximately 3.6 % of annual domestic consumption.
