National Development and Reform Commission and Other Departments
Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Renewable Energy Green Power Certificate Market
Fa Gai Neng Yuan 〔2025〕 No. 262
Development and Reform Commissions, Energy Bureaus, Industry and Information Technology Departments, Commerce Departments, and Data Management Departments of all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps; all dispatched agencies of the National Energy Administration; State Grid Corporation of China; China Southern Power Grid Co., Ltd.; Inner Mongolia Electric Power (Group) Co., Ltd.; relevant central enterprises; Beijing, Guangzhou, and Inner Mongolia Electric Power Trading Centers; Hydrochina Corporation; and China Electric Power Planning & Engineering Institute:
Accelerating the construction of the renewable energy green power certificate (hereinafter referred to as "green certificate") market is a key measure to promote the high-quality development of renewable energy with greater efforts, an important part of improving the green and low-carbon development mechanism, and an inherent requirement for the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development. To implement the relevant provisions of the "Energy Law of the People's Republic of China", accelerate the establishment of a green energy consumption promotion mechanism, promote the high-quality development of the green certificate market, and further improve the level of green power consumption in the whole society, the following opinions are put forward.
I. General Requirements
Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will fully implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Second and Third Plenary Sessions of the 20th Central Committee, thoroughly implement the new strategy for energy security featuring "four revolutions and one cooperation", give full play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, better play the role of the government, vigorously cultivate the green certificate market, stimulate the demand for green power consumption, guide the green certificate price to reasonably reflect the environmental value of green power, and accelerate the formation of green production and lifestyle.
By 2027, the green certificate market trading system will be basically improved, the green power consumption mechanism combining mandatory and voluntary consumption will be more sound, systems such as green power consumption accounting, certification, and labeling will be basically established, the connection between green certificates and other mechanisms will be smoother, the potential of the green certificate market will be released at an accelerated pace, the international application of green certificates will advance steadily, and the smooth flow of green certificates nationwide will be realized. By 2030, the green certificate market system will be further improved, the demand for independent consumption of green power in the whole society will be significantly enhanced, the green certificate market will operate efficiently and orderly, the international application of green certificates will be effectively realized, the environmental value of green power will be reasonably reflected, which will strongly support the high-quality development of renewable energy and help the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development.
II. Stabilizing the Supply of the Green Certificate Market
(1) Timely and automatic issuance of green certificates. Accelerate the filing and registration of renewable energy power generation projects, and in principle, complete the filing and registration of grid-connected projects of the previous month within the current month. Strengthen the technical support for the functions of the national green certificate issuance and trading system, and issue green certificates in a unified batch and automatically on a monthly basis according to the monthly settlement electricity of registered renewable energy power generation projects provided by power grid enterprises and power trading institutions. In principle, green certificates corresponding to the electricity of the previous month shall be issued within the current month.
(2) Expanding the scale of green power trading. Accelerate the expansion of the scale of green power trading with green power and its corresponding environmental value as the subject matter, and steadily promote wind power (including distributed wind power and offshore wind power), solar power (including distributed photovoltaic power and solar thermal power), as well as biomass power, geothermal power, marine energy power and other renewable energy power generation projects to participate in green power trading.
(3) Improving the green certificate cancellation mechanism. Improve the closed-loop management of the whole life cycle of green certificates and standardize the green certificate cancellation mechanism. Green certificates that have declared the completion of green power consumption shall be cancelled on the basis of green power consumption certification documents or other declaration materials; green certificates that are untraded or traded but not declared to complete green power consumption shall be automatically cancelled after the expiration of their validity period; for deep-sea offshore wind power and solar thermal power projects applying for China Certified Emission Reductions (CCER), after the verification and registration of emission reductions are completed, the green certificates corresponding to the emission reductions shall be cancelled.
(4) Supporting cross-provincial circulation of green certificates. Promote the rational circulation of green certificates nationwide, and no region shall restrict the trading area of green certificates in any way. Support power generators and users to independently participate in green certificate trading or green power trading, and promote the optimal allocation of green certificates in a wider range.
III. Stimulating the Demand for Green Certificate Consumption
(5) Clarifying the requirements for mandatory consumption of green certificates. Steadily promote the mandatory consumption of green certificates in accordance with the law, and gradually increase the proportion of green power consumption, which shall be calculated using green certificates. Accelerate the improvement of the proportion of green power consumption in industries such as iron and steel, non-ferrous metals, building materials, petrochemicals, chemicals, data centers, and other key energy-using units and industries. By 2030, the proportion shall not be lower than the national average level of renewable energy power total consumption responsibility weight in principle; the proportion of green power consumption in newly-built data centers at national hub nodes shall be further increased on the basis of 80%. In regions where conditions permit, create a number of green power factories and green power parks with a high proportion of green power consumption by classification and grading, and encourage them to achieve 100% green power consumption. Incorporate green power consumption information into the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting system of listed companies.
(6) Improving the voluntary consumption mechanism of green certificates. Encourage relevant energy-using units to further increase the proportion of green power consumption on top of the mandatory green power consumption ratio. Give play to the leading role of government departments, public institutions, and state-owned enterprises to steadily improve the level of green power consumption. Encourage enterprises to actively disclose green power consumption. Encourage industry leaders, multinational corporations and their industrial chain enterprises, and export-oriented enterprises to build green industrial chains and supply chains, increase the proportion of green power consumption year by year, and jointly promote the green transformation of enterprises. Build a number of green power buildings and green power communities with a high proportion of green power consumption. Promote green charging piles and support new energy vehicles to charge with green power. Encourage residents to consume green power, promote power grid enterprises, green certificate trading platforms and other institutions to provide more convenient services for residents to purchase green certificates, and incorporate green power consumption into evaluation indicators such as green families and green travel. Study and establish a green power consumption classification and grading label based on green certificates.
(7) Improving relevant financial and fiscal support policies. Increase the support of green finance for enterprises, products, and activities in green power consumption, and strengthen green credit support. Incorporate green power consumption requirements into green product evaluation standards, and study and formulate government procurement policies to support green products.
IV. Improving the Green Certificate Trading Mechanism
(8) Improving the green certificate market pricing mechanism. Improve the green certificate price formation mechanism, strengthen green certificate price monitoring, study the establishment of a green certificate price index, and guide the green certificate price to operate at a reasonable level. With reference to the separate trading price of green certificates, reasonably form the green certificate price in green power trading.
(9) Optimizing the green certificate trading mechanism. Improve the national unified green certificate trading system and strengthen the construction of green certificate trading platforms. Promote power generators and users to sign medium and long-term green certificate purchase agreements. Support agencies to participate in the issuance and trading of green certificates for distributed new energy power generation projects. Accelerate the establishment of provincial green certificate accounts and improve the transfer mechanism of green certificates for existing hydropower corresponding to grid agent power purchase.
(10) Improving the green power trading mechanism. Promote the construction of multi-year, annual, monthly, and intra-monthly green power trading mechanisms, and encourage power generators and users to sign multi-year purchase agreements. Encourage all regions to implement national energy strategies and plans through green power trading, and effectively expand cross-provincial and inter-regional supply. Encourage regions with conditions to promote the aggregation of distributed new energy to participate in green power trading in the vicinity in combination with the endowment of distributed new energy resources and the actual needs of users.
V. Expanding Green Certificate Application Scenarios
(11) Accelerating the construction of green certificate standard system. Study the green certificate-related standard system, compile a catalog of green power consumption standards, and accelerate the formulation of various standards in accordance with the principle of giving priority to urgent needs. Promote the effective connection between green certificates and carbon emission accounting standards for key industry enterprises and carbon footprint accounting standards for key products.
(12) Establishing a green power consumption accounting mechanism. Establish a green power consumption accounting mechanism based on green certificates, formulate green power consumption accounting specifications, and clarify the accounting procedures and methods for green power consumption. Carry out green power consumption accounting services to provide enterprises with authoritative green power consumption lists. Improve the dimensions and levels of green power consumption statistics and rankings.
(13) Conducting green power consumption certification. Formulate relevant technical standards, rules, and labels for green power consumption certification, establish a green power consumption certification mechanism in line with China's national conditions, encourage third-party certification institutions to carry out green power consumption certification for different industries and fields, and promote the adoption and application of certification results in relevant fields. Encourage relevant entities to actively use green power consumption labels to improve their brand image and market competitiveness.
(14) Promoting the effective connection between green certificates and other mechanisms. Promote the implementation of renewable energy power consumption responsibility weight to key energy-using units, and use green certificates for weight accounting. Gradually expand the scope of industry enterprises required to meet the green power consumption ratio and use green certificates for accounting. Promote the inclusion of green power consumption requirements in the measures for energy conservation and carbon reduction management of key energy-using and carbon-emitting units. Strengthen the connection between green certificates and carbon emission accounting, and enhance the application of green certificates in carbon footprint accounting of key products and product carbon labels.
VI. Promoting the International Application of Green Certificates
(15) Promoting the internationalization of green certificate standards. Adhere to the combination of "introducing" and "going global", and coordinate the formulation of international and domestic standards. Promote the application of China's green power consumption standards in international green power consumption accounting and certification, and enhance the authority and recognition of the standards. Accelerate the formulation of international standards for green power consumption, and promote the transformation of China's green power consumption standards into international standards. Do a good job in the international promotion of general accounting methods and standards.
(16) Strengthening international cooperation and exchanges. Take green certificates as an important topic in intergovernmental mechanism dialogues, support various institutions and enterprises to carry out practical exchanges and cooperation with the international community on the formulation of green power consumption standards, certification docking, accounting application, etc., and guide trading partners to recognize Chinese green certificates. Communicate well with international organizations, increase publicity efforts, and promote the expansion of the application scenarios of Chinese green certificates. Cultivate internationally influential green power consumption certification institutions, encourage industries to establish international organizations for green power consumption initiatives, improve the coverage and influence of green certificates on energy-using enterprises, and enhance enterprises' green competitiveness.
(17) Strengthening policy publicity and services. Carry out flexible and diverse publicity activities on green certificate policies to promote the formation of a good atmosphere for active consumption of green power. Encourage the holding of publicity meetings, fairs and other activities to promote green certificate trading. Encourage all regions, especially the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area and other regions with high demand for green certificates, to explore the establishment of green certificate and green power service centers to better meet the needs of green power consumption.
The National Energy Administration, together with relevant departments, will monitor the green certificate market, strengthen the overall connection between green certificates and other mechanisms, jointly promote the construction of the green certificate market, and create a good atmosphere for green power consumption. Green certificate issuing institutions and various green certificate trading platforms shall earnestly fulfill their main responsibilities and efficiently and standardizedly carry out green certificate issuance and trading. Provincial energy authorities, together with relevant departments, shall organize relevant energy-using units to meet the target requirements for the proportion of green power consumption. All dispatched agencies of the National Energy Administration shall do a good job in the supervision of the green certificate market in their jurisdictions.
National Development and Reform Commission
National Energy Administration
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
Ministry of Commerce
National Data Administration
March 6, 2025
