When it comes to Guarantees of Origin (GOs), you’re paying more than you need to. Let’s face it - governments aren’t exactly known for building (or buying) the best software - and GO registries are no exception.
They’re simply not designed with optimized fees in mind, and between cross‑border registry transfers, device registration, issuance fees, and endless unpredictable manual steps to complete, GO costs add up - and that’s before including your sunk time into the calculation.
If your job is to buy, cancel, or transfer GOs at scale, the problem is clear to you already: Non-standardized fees that silently add up and eat into your GO margins.
First things first: what is a GO?
To get right back to basics, check out or original article on what a GO is. But as a quick recap, a GO is a certificate proving that 1 MWh of electricity was generated from a specific source. Each Member State runs a registry; you hold, transfer, and cancel GOs in that registry account. We went into detail on the complexities of this international regulatory environment in our Guide to Cross-Border GO Management, and to recap simply: registries are fragmented.
Norway’s GO registry (NECS) is operated by state‑owned Statnett, whilst Germany’s Herkunftsnachweisregister (HKNR) is run by the Umweltbundesamt and in the U.K, Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) are overseen by Ofgem, and so forth. Every registry has different logos, logins, and forms, but they ultimately do the same job: hold GOs, transfer GOs, cancel GOs.
On the production side, Soldera is already bridging this fragmented market for producers with registry integrations, contingent on the producers opening or having an account already (see - effortless device registration).
But if you only want basic registry functionality, as most traders and corporate buyers do, opening a local account means being subject to hefty approval timelines, usually involving arduous additional steps that aren’t explicitly laid out anywhere in the relevant domain protocol. These can include:
- Opening local companies (expect office, notarization, legal, tax, and admin fees)
- Obtaining specific local tax numbers and codes
- Shouldering other responsibilities, especially in markets without strong regulator separation between GOs and energy products
- Completing non-English language forms
- Attending virtual meetings for verification
- Sharing sensitive KYC files to various entities across Europe
But, since releasing that regional overview, we’ve gone one step further in our solution. We’re actively preparing to release virtual accounts, built for all GO market participants - not just producers.
What is a virtual account?
Think of a virtual GO account like a multi‑currency wallet. Just as digital banks allow you to see your balance, a virtual GO account lets you see your certificates. Under the hood, we operate the registry accounts; but above the hood, you see your own sub‑ledger. This allows us to cut fees massively: when two users trade inside the same virtual system, nothing needs to move in the registry until final cancellation or an external transfer. The result: substantially cheaper holding and transfers for active traders and suppliers. To use an analogy: GOs can feel like ladling soup from five pots into one bowl, and every ladle costs money. Virtual accounts are simply one big pot, and you only have to serve yourself once.
How virtual GO accounts cut cost and time
- Fewer paid transfers. Internal ledgers replace registries until cancel or export. The Soldera system internalizes/avoids as many fees as possible.
- Single dashboard. One portfolio view across ALL markets. This includes all SPVs, devices, inventory, contracts, expiries, vintages, and PPA-earmarked or forward volumes - ready for reporting.
- Fewer account openings. Avoid slow onboarding in multiple registries; use ours once and access many. We’ve gone through this struggle, and now you don’t have to. This also includes regionally devolved markets like Belgium (4x Registry Accounts), and regions where opening a local company is required to access basic market functionality, such as Spain and Slovenia. Who has time for that?
- Clean audit trail. All sub‑ledger moves are timestamped; and final cancellations map to specific registry events for reconciliation. Instead of piecing together your transaction history across multiple accounts, you can access it in one place.
- Better liquidity. Internal matching (think “order book,” not email chains) lets buyers and sellers meet without waiting on cross‑border mechanics. And with access to their Soldera transfer details, you can expect feeless transfers, even with commercial counterparties.
Sounds great, but is ownership clear?
Currently, the account holder controls registry activities in their respective registry. Virtual accounts will fully respect that principle: by segregating sub‑balances and executing physical movements only when required for an external settlement or contractual delivery, the account holder retains primacy over their balance in all of their active jurisdictions.
How will forwards work with Virtual Accounts?
Forwards work masterfully with virtual accounts. Where you might expect additional complexity, the opposite occurs: for forward contracts that hard‑code delivery accounts, we’ll deliver directly to the named counterparty virtually, unless contractual obligations specify an external delivery. This means Soldera members can continue to forward hedge - minus the transfer fees depending on the counterparty.
What about quality labels, compliance and PPAs?
In short: nothing changes.
- Compliance: For disclosure and supplier mix, you still cancel in the appropriate registry and vintage, continuing exactly as the cancellation services available to Soldera Members currently operate. Virtual accounts will merely minimize the number of paid registry events before that.
- PPAs: They’re also compatible with both physical and virtual power purchase agreements (PPAs / vPPAs); meaning you can still follow your existing strategy but reduce the busywork.
- Quality Labels: Soldera will continue to offer eligibility checks for production volumes with quality labels from respected independent criteria schemes.
Okay, virtual accounts make sense. But who will they be for?
Less time spent on admin means more time on strategy. This is true for:
- Suppliers cancelling monthly for thousands of SME customers.
- Corporate buyers retiring volumes from multiple countries or specific certificate types.
- Traders arbitraging origin, technology, and expiry whilst looking for a single dashboard.
- Producers of any size juggling multi‑country plants looking to reduce certificate transfer fees.
If you want the simplicity of one account with the legal certainty of the underlying registries, our virtual account service is for you.
If you want to wait until they’re ready: sign up below to join the waitlist and be informed of their release.
Or, if you’re a larger player interested in piloting sooner rather than later, email trade@soldera.org. We’ll map your fee leakage, show the fastest path to lower‑cost cancellations and transfers, and let you in on virtual account features early.
