The May guarantees of origin (GOs) auction, held on 8 May, concluded with all available certificates sold, despite lower prices and scheduling challenges. The auction, organized in separate rounds for solar and wind energy, offered GOs linked to renewable electricity generated in the last quarter of 2024 from installations that began operating after 1 January 2021.
In the solar round, 743,628 MWh of certificates were available. Eleven bidders participated, with eight securing allocations. The wind round offered 332,798 MWh, attracting the same number of participants, of which seven were successful.
Despite solid participation, prices saw a sharp decline compared to the previous auction in March. Solar GOs cleared at 5 eurocents/MWh and wind at 6 eurocents/MWh, down from an earlier average of 16 eurocents. Analysts attribute this drop to the timing of the auction, which coincided with a public holiday in much of Europe, limiting foreign participation and competitive bidding. Additionally, the certificates were for 2024 production, but the period for applying them to green energy billing for that year had already passed, reducing their market value.
The Greek renewable energy market operator DAPEEP chose to proceed with the auction to avoid leaving certificates unused, ensuring at least some revenue was generated.
Looking ahead, market activity for GOs is typically subdued in the early months of the year, as suppliers have until March 2026 to utilize certificates related to 2025 production. This seasonal trend has also led to softer pricing across other European GO markets during the same period.