China's green certificate issuance soars amid clean energy surge

BEIJING -- China's National Energy Administration (NEA) on Thursday said it issued 1.23 billion green electricity certificates (GECs) in October, as China, a global leader in clean energy, continues to make progress toward its carbon peak and neutrality goals.

The certificates, representing renewable energy production, included 530 million from wind power, accounting for 43.01 percent of the total, and 197 million from solar power, making up 16.02 percent.

By the end of October, China had cumulatively issued 3.55 billion GECs, with wind power and solar power certificates totaling 1.32 billion and 681 million, respectively.

GECs are the sole proof of the environmental attributes of renewable energy power in China and serve as the only certificate for verifying renewable energy production and consumption, according to relevant rules.

Last month, 25.42 million GECs were traded nationwide. Cumulatively, by the end of October, 384 million GECs had been traded, the NEA said.

China introduced the green certificate system as a pilot program in 2017. In December 2023, the NEA issued the first batch of GECs, totaling 11.91 million, after being designated as the authority responsible for GEC management.

China has established the world's most systematic and comprehensive carbon emission reduction policy framework, achieving significant results in energy transition, said Wen Hua, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's top economic planner.

Total installed capacity of wind and solar power reached the country's internationally committed targets more than six years ahead of schedule, Wen said at a China Pavilion event on Nov. 15, during the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan.

China's industrial structure has been optimized and upgraded, resulting in the world's largest and most complete new energy industry chain, Wen said, adding that China's annual production of new energy vehicles had already surpassed the 10 million milestone in 2024.

China's renewable energy expansion continues to set new records, with over 200 million kilowatts of newly installed capacity for renewable energy power generation in the first three quarters of 2024, accounting for more than 80 percent of total new installed capacity.

Wind and solar power installations led the growth, with solar power adding 161 million kilowatts and wind power increasing by 39.12 million kilowatts in this period, official data revealed.

In 2023, China's total GEC electricity consumption reached 105.9 billion kWh, representing a year-on-year increase of 281.4 percent, while China has emerged as the world's largest market for green certificate trading, according to a report released in August 2024 by a research institute under China Southern Power Grid.

This rapid growth aligns with China's goal to reach peak carbon emissions before 2030, according to the NDRC.

Four years ago, China announced its "dual carbon" goals of peaking carbon emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060. Since then, China has steadily advanced energy transformation and achieved remarkable strides, contributing significantly to global climate response and green transformation.

China is undertaking a rapid transformation in energy structure, said renowned U.S. economist Jeffrey Sachs in a recent interview with Xinhua, noting that the country is also making such transformation possible around the globe by exporting green technologies, which is a key part of the solution to climate change, via good partnerships worldwide.