Pursuant to the Act No. 165/2012 Coll. on subsidized energy sources (§ 44, § 45 and § 45a) and Decree No. 328/2022 Coll. on guarantees of origin of energy, the market operator issues guarantees of origin of energy based on energy producer´s request.

In relation to the above mentioned legal documents, the market operator launched the Registry of Guarantees of Origin (so-called EZP). EZP is an information system in which guarantees of origin are registered in respective accounts during the whole life cycle (i.e. from the issuance to the cancellation).

A guarantee of origin can be issued for electricity, biomethane, heat or hydrogen.

The guarantee of origin of electricity is issued for the amount of electricity that was produced by the electricity producer in the Czech Republic and delivered to the transmission or distribution system of the Czech Republic during the period of one calendar month.

The guarantee of origin of biomethane is issued for the amount of biomethane that was produced by the biomethane producer in the Czech Republic and delivered to the transmission or distribution system of the Czech Republic during a period of one calendar month.

The guarantee of origin of heat is issued for the amount of heat that was produced in the Czech Republic by a producer of heat from RES or nuclear facility and delivered to the heat distribution system or delivered to the customer directly from the heat production plant during a period of one calendar month.

The guarantee of origin of hydrogen is issued for the amount of hydrogen that was produced by the hydrogen producer in the Czech Republic and delivered to the transmission or distribution system of the Czech Republic or to a filling station or dispensing unit during a period of one calendar month.

The market operator will issue a guarantee of origin based on the measured or calculated values of the produced amount of electricity, biomethane, hydrogen or heat provided by the producer in accordance with the implementing legislation.

Guarantees of Origin (GOs) are issued:

• for an amount of energy produced and delivered to the grid (1 GO = 1 MWh of delivered electricity, biomethane, hydrogen or heat);

• for the minimum amount of 1 MWh and for the period of energy production of 1 whole calendar month;

• with the validity of 1 year from the end date of the energy production period for which the GOs are issued. The GOs are automatically withdrawn after this deadline.

Guarantees of origin can be transferred between individual accounts within the Czech Republic or within member states of the Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB).

The guarantee of origin exists only electronically, in the form of a serial number, the creation of which is subject to established rules. As soon as it is cancelled towards the end consumer, a PDF document "Cancellation Statement" can be generated with the OTE electronic seal. There is no other "paper" form of guarantees of origin.

The prices charged by the market operator associated with the Registry of Guarantees of Origin for 2024 are determined by the Price Decision of the Energy Regulatory Office No. 2/2023 of 27 September 2023 and can be found here (in Czech only). 

New Price Decision No. 8/2024 of 26 September 2024 sets prices for 2025 and is available here.

If biomass fuels are used for the production of electricity or heat in plants with a total nominal thermal input of at least 20 MW in the case of solid biomass fuels and with a total nominal thermal input of at least 2 MW in the case of gaseous biomass fuels, then the condition for issuing a guarantee of origin is meeting sustainability criteria according to the implementing legislation.

The condition for issuing a guarantee of origin of biomethane is the fulfillment of the sustainability criteria according to the implementing legislation. The guarantee of origin of biomethane is issued separately for advanced biomethane and for other biomethane.

Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB)

The Registry of Guarantees of Origin (EZP) is connected to the international system of the Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB) from the 21st of December 2016. This connection allows EZP account holders to perform international transactions (imports and exports) with other countries, which are also members of the AIB.