Over 30,000 green certificates were traded in the first session in December 2012 on the Centralized Green Certificates Market, according to data published by the Romanian power market operator OPCOM. The total number of green certificates traded in 2012 has thus exceeded 990,000.

In the first session in December, ten purchasing offers were released, while 24 sale offers were submitted. The closing price was RON 244 per certificate- or some EUR 54. A second trading session will be organized by OPCOM in December.

The green certificate is a document which proves the production of 1 MWh of electricity from renewable energy sources, and are given for free by the Romanian state to energy producers, which can then sell them.

The renewable sources eligible to participate in the trading system for green certificates are hydropower plants with an installed capacity of 10 MW, wind, solar, geothermal and associated fuel gases, biomass, biogas, landfill gas.

Electricity suppliers have to achieve an annual quota of  8.3 percent of electricity coming from renewable sources in 2012.  The quotas for 2015 and 2020 are of 35 and 38 percent, respectively.

Ioana Toader, ioana.toader@romania-insider.com