Iris Waikinat, representative of the European SURE certification scheme, participated in the International Bioenergy Congress and the Renewable Gas Show 2025, where she stressed the importance of coordinating sustainability verification systems with Guarantees of Origin (GOs) and the future Union Database (UDB) to ensure full traceability of renewable gases and avoid double counting of green energy.
Three instruments that must move forward together
SUSTAINABILITY VERIFICATION
Verification systems such as SURE are mechanisms recognized by the European Commission that verify compliance with the sustainability criteria and greenhouse gas emission reduction requirements of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II and RED III).
These schemes certify the entire value chain: from the origin of raw materials (waste, manure, intermediate crops) to the conversion into biogas or biomethane and its final use.
The result of each audit is a Proof of Sustainability (PoS) that accompanies each batch of biofuel or renewable gas and demonstrates that it meets European requirements.
GUARANTEES OF ORIGIN (GO)
The GOs are electronic certificates issued by the Technical Manager of the gas system (Enagás GTS, in Spain ) that certify the renewable nature of the gas injected into the network and allow its commercial traceability.
Each guarantee of origin represents an amount of energy (usually 1 MWh) and contains information about its source, production date and origin plant.
While sustainability schemes focus on how biomethane is produced , guarantees of origin (GOs) indicate where the renewable energy being traded comes from.
UNION DATABASE (UDB)
The UDB is the European traceability platform that the European Commission will launch to centralize sustainability data and transactions of biofuels, biogas, biomethane and renewable hydrogen.
Its aim is to prevent duplication and fraud, ensuring that each unit of renewable energy is counted only once across the European Union.
From the full implementation of RED III, all operations covered by recognized voluntary systems (such as SURE) must also be registered in the UDB.
A common challenge: integrating information and simplifying processes
Waikinat explained that, currently, the three systems operate in parallel: SURE and other voluntary schemes verify sustainability and emissions savings; Enagás GTS manages guarantees of origin; and the European Commission is preparing the UDB to connect both levels.
The trend is to make them interoperable, so that sustainability information and guarantees of origin are shared. “travel together along the value chain.”
This coordination will allow companies reduce audits, avoid double counting errors, and comply with a single document flow both national and European requirements.
“The goal is to simplify the work of companies and strengthen the credibility of the renewable gas market across Europe,” Iris Waikinat emphasized.
SURE expands its support to the Spanish market
The SURE scheme has a network of 43 certification bodies and has issued more than 15.000 certificates in Europe. In Spain, more than 450 companies already use the system, especially in the solid biomass sector, and a growing number of biogas and biomethane operators are preparing to become certified under the new RED III requirements.
Waikinat recommended that the promoters begin preparing the documentation as soon as possible (which includes mass balances, contracts, raw material traceability, and emissions calculations) to facilitate certification and take advantage of the opportunities that will be opened up by the future connection between SURE, the national GOs, and the Union Database.
SURE's visit to Valladolid, at the invitation of AVEBIOM, the national support entity for the scheme, reaffirms the ongoing collaboration between both organizations to support Spanish companies in their adaptation to the new European framework for sustainability and traceability of renewable gases.
Contact and more information
https://www.avebiom.org/que-hacemos/certificacion/SURE