On the 5th of September 2019, Commerg hosted their first thematic client event with market participants in the Guarantees of Origin sector. After the summer holidays but still against the sunny background of the Maltese Islands, the participants received updates from the GO market as well as had the possibility to network with other key market players.
Thematic Sessions
The first session was presented by the Association of Issuing Bodies, which monitors the issuance and cancellation of the Guarantees of Origin system. The AIB shared information about current and future memberships in their organisation, including new observer statuses. Against the solar-powered backdrop of the Maltese Mediterranean scenery, the AIB included more information about the potential membership of the island nation. Next to that, all those attending had the possibility to receive information regarding the upcoming implementation of the Renewable Energy Directive. As it will improve the Guarantees of Origin system and extent to other technologies, it provided a useful insight.
The attendees also had the chance to hear from Hinicio, the consultancy company leading the way to the implementation towards a Hydrogen GO market. Hydrogen is an interesting topic as it is seen as a potential growth market. In order to issue GOs for hydrogen, Hinicio shared insights on how to categorise hydrogen in the current framework of the Renewable Energy Directive. Synergy and agreement between AIB, Hinicio and Commerg proved to be present on the categorisation question, which is vital for a good future implementation.
The last session was presented by the Head of Renewable Markets of Commerg to present the view of the brokerage house on price movements during the last months. Information on the cause-effect relationship for last years’ price development, supported by graphs and data, received great interest.
Following up, liquidity of the GO market was discussed. As this is heavily influenced by developments such as auctions and PPAs, it showed that liquidity requires effort and transparency from everyone in the market. In order to improve liquidity and transparency, Commerg introduced the latest features such as Sales Trading, Trade Reports and Price settlements. More about that will be displayed in future articles.
Entertainment
In the sunny afternoon, the attendees enjoyed lunch at the wonderful scenery of the Dragonara hotel, including a private pool and several beaches of the resort. After a drink, dessert and entertaining activities, the group embarked on the Hera, a Turkish Gullet chartered for the occasion. The boat navigated to the spectacular views of the Grand Harbour of Valletta, surrounded by the original cities of the first Knights settlers of the Order of Saint John. Dinner was served on board at the sound of a jazz band, soon followed by a warm evening swim in the Maltese Mediterranean.