What green electricity really is?
Direct answer
Green electricity is power for which a Guarantee of Origin has been booked, a certificate proving that an equal amount was generated from wind, sun, water or biomass somewhere. Physically your electricity is identical to grey power: every socket delivers the same grid mix. The green part sits in the certificate, not in the electrons in your building.
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- Practical next steps
What green electricity really is: scattered information versus Energy Intelligence
Almost every energy contract is called green nowadays, but what you buy differs greatly. The confusion arises because the electricity itself is the same everywhere: your socket delivers the same 230 volts regardless of your contract. Yet one supplier may call itself greener than another. This matters to any business that wants to buy sustainably and later explain why a choice was genuinely sustainable, for instance in an annual report or to an auditor.
- A Guarantee of Origin (GO) represents 1 megawatt-hour of renewably generated energy and states the source, the installation and the country of origin; in the Netherlands VertiCer issues them.
- Electricity cannot be earmarked on the grid: the same power flows to everyone, so 'green' is an administrative claim via GOs, not a physical distinction.
- A cheap foreign hydropower GO from Scandinavia adds no extra greening; Dutch wind and solar GOs, or a supplier who invests in generation, turn your choice into new renewable capacity.
Insight
Traditional approach
Information is scattered across portals, documents, invoices or separate spreadsheets.
Modern approach
Data, context and interpretation are brought together into a clear decision picture.
Decision-making
Traditional approach
Choices are made based on averages, assumptions or occasional analyses.
Modern approach
Scenarios, KPIs and current measurement data make the trade-off more concrete and repeatable.
Follow-up
Traditional approach
Actions often stay non-committal or disappear into separate reports.
Modern approach
Follow-up actions, monitoring and reporting are linked to the same energy data.
How does electricity become 'green'?
The electricity on the grid is the same mix for everyone; you cannot earmark or trace your own power. The distinction between green and grey is therefore handled administratively with the Guarantee of Origin, GO for short. A producer of renewable energy receives one GO per megawatt-hour generated. That is a digital certificate recording the source, the installation and the country of generation. In the Netherlands VertiCer is the body that issues these GOs. For a supplier to sell you green electricity, it must hold and cancel enough GOs for your consumption. The power and the certificate are traded separately, and that is exactly what makes origin a point of attention.
- Every socket delivers the same grid mix; electricity cannot be physically earmarked.
- A GO represents 1 megawatt-hour of renewably generated energy.
- The certificate states the source, production installation and country of origin.
- VertiCer issues GOs in the Netherlands; suppliers cancel them for green supply.
Why is not all green electricity equally green?
Because GOs are traded separately from the power, a supplier can buy cheap certificates from abroad. Most GOs cancelled in Europe come from Scandinavian hydropower. Those plants have often stood for decades; their construction had nothing to do with demand for green electricity. In many European countries few buyers actively choose green, so the supply of GOs exceeds their use and the certificates are extremely cheap. A Dutch company running a gas plant can thus, on paper, call your electricity green without a single extra wind turbine or solar panel being built anywhere. That is the heart of the 'genuinely green' question: the claim is formally correct, but it does not lead to more renewable generation.
- GOs and power are traded separately, so certificates can be bought in.
- Around ninety percent of GOs cancelled in Europe come from hydropower.
- Those Scandinavian plants existed long before demand for green electricity.
- A cheap foreign GO validates a claim without any new renewable generation.
How does a business buy green reliably?
Look beyond the word green and ask about the origin. The electricity label and the GOs state the source and country of generation; ask to see them. Dutch wind and solar GOs are scarcer, so choosing them increases the chance that new renewable generation is added. A supplier who demonstrably invests in generation itself also contributes to real greening. If you want to communicate publicly that you are sustainable, take account of the ACM guidance on sustainability claims. It requires you to substantiate a green claim with facts, keep it current, and phrase it concretely and honestly. A claim such as 'we run on green electricity' that rests only on cheap foreign GOs may be regarded as misleading.
- Ask for the electricity label and the origin and source in the underlying GOs.
- Choose Dutch wind or solar GOs, or a supplier who invests in generation itself.
- The ACM requires you to substantiate a sustainability claim with facts and keep it current.
- Be concrete: name the country and source rather than just using the word green.
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