Guarantees of origin vs a PPA: what a Danish company actually gets

Most Danish companies that buy green power buy it through guarantees of origin. A PPA is something else, even though it usually includes them. This guide explains what each one gives you, what it does not, and why the difference is starting to matter.

What a guarantee of origin is

A guarantee of origin (GO) is an electronic certificate that proves one megawatt-hour was produced from a renewable source. It records where and how the power was made. In Denmark, Energinet issues GOs once a month, for the month before.

A GO is used by cancelling it in a company’s name. After that, nobody else can claim the same megawatt-hour. For a Danish site the GO has to be cancelled in Energinet’s register, within its 12-month lifetime, and by 31 March to count for the year before. GOs from other EU countries, Norway and Iceland can be moved in through the European hub.

The important part: GOs are traded separately from the power. A company can cancel a GO from a Norwegian hydro plant and still take its power from the Danish grid as before.

Three ways to buy green power

1. A green product from your supplier. The supplier sells you normal power from the grid and cancels GOs for the same volume in your name.
2. GOs on their own. You keep your normal power contract and buy the certificates separately.
3. A PPA. A contract to buy power from a named plant for several years at an agreed price. The GOs from that plant follow the deal, if the contract says so. Read how a PPA works in Denmark.

What each one gives you

Why GOs are cheap

In July 2026, GOs from Nordic hydro, wind and solar traded at roughly €1.35 to €1.65 per MWh. The average Danish day-ahead price in 2026 has been around €110 per MWh. So the GO adds less than 2% to the cost of the power.

That makes GOs the quick first step. But the low price also shows what a GO does not do. It does not fix your power price, and on its own it rarely pays for a new plant. Norway leads European GO supply with low-cost exports, so the certificate behind a green power product may well come from Norwegian hydro, not from new Danish solar or wind.

What a PPA adds

• A known price. For the share of consumption it covers, the price is agreed for the whole term, often five to fifteen years.
• A named plant. You can point to the solar park or wind farm your power comes from.
• New capacity. If the plant is new, your contract can be what lets it get financed. Banks lend against a signed PPA.
• The GOs, if the contract says so. They are still what proves the power is green. A PPA without its GOs gives you a price, not a green claim.

The rules are moving to hours and location

Today, a GO cancelled for a Danish site counts, wherever in the European system it came from. The GHG Protocol has proposed two changes: renewable power should match consumption hour by hour, and it should be able to physically reach the place where it is used. If that is adopted, a monthly certificate from a distant plant will count for less than power from a nearby plant that runs in your hours.

Denmark is already testing the next step. In December 2024, Google, Better Energy and Energinet made the first real-world trades in the EU with certificates that match production and consumption hour by hour. Read more in the 2027 climate rules and your next PPA.

Which one do you need?

• Only a green figure for this year’s report: GOs through your supplier are the quick and cheap answer.
• Also a fixed price, or a plant you can point to: a PPA, with the GOs written into the contract.
• Too small to take a whole plant: several companies can share one. See how a pooled PPA works.

Many companies do both: a PPA for part of their consumption, and GOs for the rest.

Where Symbolon fits

Symbolon is a PPA broker in Denmark. We show you how much of your hours each solar, wind or hybrid project would cover, check that the GOs follow the power, and take the deal through to signing. It is free for buyers. See how Symbolon works for buyers.