The China National Renewable Energy Center recently approved and issued the nation’s first lot of green power trading certificates to 20 renewable energy projects as a part of the country’s upgraded policies as concerns renewable energy generation, green certificates, and the green certificate trading scheme.
The projects are located in six provinces and regions, including Jiangsu, Shandong and Hebei provinces as well as Xinjiang Autonomous Region.
The green certificate is a tradable commodity proving that certain electricity is generated using renewable energy sources and serves as a digital certificate issued by the Chinese authorities to the power producing enterprise based on their contribution of non-water-based renewable energy to the electrical grid. It is a confirmation and proof of renewable energy generating capacity of non-hydrological origin, as well as the only documentary proof of green power consumption.
The projects in the first lot of certificates are being launched by several energy firms, including China Huaneng Group, China Huadian Corporation, China Energy Conservation Investment Corporation and China Hydropower Engineering Consulting Group, among others.
According to the relevant policies, green certificates will be issued in batches. Onshore wind and solar PV projects are eligible to apply for the certificates on a designated online registration platform after receiving certain approvals. The China National Renewable Energy Center will periodically review the criteria including the list of companies receiving the subsidies and the amount of electricity generated each month in preparation for the issuance of the corresponding green certificates.