Green electricity refers to electricity with zero or near-zero carbon dioxide emissions in the process of producing electricity, and green electricity trading reflects the green value of electricity commodities through market-based means. Since China officially launched the pilot of green electricity trading in 2021, green electricity trading in many places has achieved leapfrog growth, and the market activity has been continuously enhanced. What measures have been taken to promote green electricity trading, and what are the future layouts?
Streamline the marketplace trading process
On the assembly line of Budweiser (Yanji) Co., Ltd., located in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Jilin Province, Glacier 9 degrees beer is being filled rapidly. These beers are not only local specialty drinks, but also have a special identity - green electric products. "Our company can produce 80,000 tons of beer per year and consume about 5.5 million kWh of electricity per year, 80% of which is clean electricity obtained from participating in green electricity trading, which is very important for us to fulfill our social responsibility and achieve low-carbon development goals. Sheng Xin, head of power at Budweiser (Yanji) Co., Ltd., said.
In recent years, based on the advantages of wind and solar resources in the western part of the province, Jilin Province has vigorously implemented the "Three Gorges Onshore Wind and Solar Projects", and the installed capacity of new energy has exceeded that of thermal power generation, becoming the largest power source in Jilin. According to the data, since the launch of green electricity trading in Jilin Province in 2021, the scale of green electricity transactions has exceeded 3.156 billion kWh, with a total of 4.402 million green certificates sold, and 46,000 green certificates purchased by users in Jilin Province.
Yu Yunkui, director of the marketing department of Huaneng Jilin New Energy Branch, said that since Huaneng Jilin New Energy Branch participated in green power trading in 2021, it has achieved an average annual increase of more than 20 million yuan through green power trading, and these funds have been invested in the construction of new wind power projects to promote the sustainable development of new energy projects.
As one of the first provincial-level units of the State Grid system to participate in green electricity trading, State Grid Jilin Electric Power Co., Ltd. has made every effort to promote the construction of green electricity and green certificate market, actively guided power users in Jilin Province to form a consensus on active consumption of green electricity, simplified the transaction process, reduced the time and energy cost of business entities participating in the transaction, and assisted new energy power generation enterprises to obtain a new profit model of "market electricity price + green certificate income".
It is reported that in order to further promote green power trading, State Grid Jilin Electric Power took the lead in independently organizing the first green electricity trading in the three northeastern provinces in April 2022, with a transaction of 17.04 million kWh. At the same time, it organized and carried out the "100-day tour of green power in Changbai Mountain", actively played the role of the trading center as a green consumption hub, and ensured the supply of all-green electricity in the demonstration zone through green power trading, contract replacement of new energy and coal-fired thermal power, and source-grid-load-storage market transactions. State Grid Jilin Electric Power also took the lead in establishing the Jilin Provincial Clean Energy Strategic Alliance, helping five mineral water enterprises in the Changbai ecosystem, including Quanyangquan and Nongfu Spring, to obtain green certificates, and accelerating the promotion of green electricity trading in Jilin Province to achieve comprehensive normalization.
In 2023, Jilin's consumption of green electricity will exceed 1.5 billion kWh, a year-on-year increase of 43%. "We continue to improve and expand the market transactions of green electricity and green certificates, help new energy power generation enterprises increase profits, so as to promote clean energy investment and construction, and at the same time focus on the user side, empower the development of characteristic industries with green electricity, and help Jilin achieve new breakthroughs in its comprehensive revitalization. Yu Longjun, deputy general manager of Jilin Electric Power Trading Center, said.
Contribute to the consumption of green energy
digging reservoirs, building factories, and building roads...... In the past few days, the construction site of the Wuhai Pumped Storage Power Station project in Haibowan District, Wuhai City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has been busy. Liu Yan, director of the engineering management department of Wuhai Pumped Storage Co., Ltd., said that after the completion of the power station, it will assume the functions of peak regulation, valley filling, frequency modulation and phase modulation in the Mengxi power grid system.
Zhao Xiaoning, deputy director of the Wuhai Municipal Energy Bureau, said that Wuhai has a good industrial foundation and a strong capacity to absorb new energy, but the power grid capacity, channels and green power production capacity are limited, so it is necessary to supplement new energy electricity through green power trading. Mengxi Power Grid was approved as a pilot green power trading, providing a rare development opportunity for Wuhai.
The reporter learned from the Energy Bureau of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region that at the beginning of February this year, the "Inner Mongolia Power Market Green Power Trading Pilot Program" was approved, and Mengxi Power Grid became the third green power trading pilot after the State Grid and China Southern Power Grid. On March 18, the Inner Mongolia electric power multilateral trading market organized green electricity trading for the first time, including green electricity trading into the scope of medium and long-term trading, and the business entities obtained the national green power certificate while consuming low-carbon green power through negotiation, bidding, listing and other trading modes, and a total of 861 business entities such as strategic emerging industries and traditional advantageous industries actively participated, with a transaction of 8.78 billion kilowatt hours.
A few days ago, with the 1 million kilowatts of the Siziwangqi wind storage project of Inner Mongolia Energy Group, and the 1.5 million kilowatts of the second and third phases of the Three Gorges Ulanqab New Generation Grid-Friendly Green Power Station Demonstration Project, the grid-connected scale of new energy in Inner Mongolia exceeded 100 million kilowatts, becoming the first province in the country with an installed grid-connected scale of new energy exceeding 100 million kilowatts after the total installed capacity of new energy jumped to the first place in the country in 2023.
With the official launch of green power trading, Mengxi Power Grid has realized the energy and environmental value of green power for the first time, taking a new step in promoting green development. The development of green electricity trading will further stimulate the potential of both supply and demand, comprehensively promote green energy consumption, attract more high-end and green enterprises to settle down, guide the society to form a consensus on green power consumption in a market-oriented way, and vigorously promote the transformation of production methods, so as to provide assistance for Inner Mongolia to complete the goal of energy conservation and carbon reduction, build a green energy highland, and achieve high-quality development.
The relevant person in charge of Inner Mongolia Electric Power Trading Center Co., Ltd. said that the approval of Mengxi Power Grid as a pilot green electricity trading project is a strong support for accelerating the construction of a unified national power market. In accordance with the requirements of relevant national work deployment, the company will actively cooperate with the energy authorities of the autonomous region to do a good job in green power trading and green certificate application, give full play to the role of green power in energy conservation and carbon reduction, and actively build a green and low-carbon supply chain.
"In the next step, the Energy Bureau of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region will continue to improve the green power trading mechanism and market system, and give full play to the positive role of green power in the autonomous region in attracting investment, adjusting the industrial structure and optimizing the economic layout. The head of the relevant department of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Energy Bureau said.
Encourage enterprises to switch to green electricity
According to the Tianjin Electric Power Trading Center, in the first quarter, the cumulative amount of green electricity traded in Tianjin's power market reached 5.179 billion kWh, an increase of 183% compared with the annual green power trading volume in 2023, effectively meeting the green power consumption needs of enterprises. "Power users directly purchase green electricity from new energy enterprises, which not only meets the demand for clean energy production, but also obtains authoritative green environmental value certification, and realizes the unity of economic, social and environmental benefits. Xing Ligong, director of the marketing department of Tianjin Electric Power Trading Center, said.
According to the estimation of State Grid Tianjin Electric Power Company, the amount of green electricity traded in Tianjin in 2023 will increase by 22.5 times year-on-year, and the scale of green power trading will increase significantly. Under the organization of the Tianjin Electric Power Trading Center, the Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center, the venue of the Davos Forum in the summer of 2023, completed a green power transaction with a new energy power generation company, reaching a transaction of 1 million kWh, which is equivalent to saving 320 tons of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 800 tons, which is the first time that Tianjin has carried out green power trading for large-scale activities.
In Tianjin Binhai New Area, the social demand for electricity has changed from "sufficient electricity" in the past to "green electricity" today. The China-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City's Action Plan for Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality, released in July 2023, proposes that the Eco-City will implement renewable energy development, increase the integration of renewable energy and urban construction, explore the development and utilization of diversified clean energy, and increase the proportion of green electricity use.
In the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City, the National Maritime Museum actively responded to the green power trading and officially launched the green electricity trading on April 1, with an estimated annual trading capacity of 10 million kWh. "As a key energy-using unit in the Eco-City, the National Maritime Museum participates in green electricity trading and uses clean green energy, with an estimated annual carbon reduction of 6,000 tonnes. Shao Hongfei, deputy director of the National Maritime Museum, said.
Bu Yunkun, Deputy Director of the Engineering Management Department of Tianjin Eco-City Energy Investment and Construction Co., Ltd., said that the use of clean energy has been deeply involved in all aspects of the construction of the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City. In the process of building the National Animation Industry Comprehensive Demonstration Park, a large number of technologies such as photovoltaic power generation system, soil source heat pump system, gas trigeneration system and water storage automation and energy saving are adopted. Compared with conventional energy methods, the park can save 1,904 tons of standard coal, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 4,971 tons, and save about 10,000 tons of water every year.
In order to vigorously improve the local green power supply capacity, the Tianjin Electric Power Trading Center strives to achieve that new energy power generation projects are "put into operation and traded", and green power is "tradable and traded". In 2023, the installed capacity of new energy in Tianjin will increase by 72.15% year-on-year.
"We will continue to explore more ways to trade green electricity and provide operators with a wealth of choices to meet the needs of different customers. Chang Yadi, deputy director of the trading department of Tianjin Electric Power Trading Center, said.