China’s Renewable Energy Notice provides that Green Energy Certificates (GECs) are the only proof of the environmental attributes of green energy electricity and, as such, the only evidence for recognizing the production and consumption of green energy electricity.
On March 18, China’s National Development and Reform Commission and other government departments issued “Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Renewable Energy Green Power Certificate Market(关于促进可再生能源绿色电力证书市场高质量发展的意见),” emphasizing the mandatory consumption requirements for green certificates.
The Opinion said that the mandatory consumption of green certificates will be steadily promoted in accordance with the law, and the proportion of green electricity consumption will be gradually increased and green certificate accounting will be used.
The renewable energy green power certificate (可再生能源绿色电力证书, green certificate in short) is an electronic certificate with a special logo issued by the government or tripartite agencies to green power. It is the basic basis for identifying the production and consumption of renewable energy electricity. Usually, 1000 kWh of electricity corresponds to 1 green certificate. After the electricity is transferred to the grid, the grid and the users have no way to distinguish between coal power and green power, so they can only be distinguished from the generation side through special labels. Power generation enterprises obtain the environmental value income of green power by selling green certificates, and power users prove their consumption of green power by purchasing and holding green certificates.
The “Opinions” also said that the proportion of green power consumption by enterprises in the steel, non-ferrous metals, building materials, petrochemical, chemical and and data centers and other key energy-consumption industries, will be increased, and by 2030, in principle, it will not be lower than the average level of responsibility weight for the total consumption of renewable energy power in the country; the proportion of green power consumption in new data centers at national hub nodes will be further increased on the basis of 80%. Build a number of green power factories and green power industrial parks with a high proportion of green power consumption in qualified regions, and encourage them to achieve 100% green power consumption. Incorporate green power consumption information into the ESG reporting system of listed companies.
In addition, it will also improve the green certificate voluntary consumption mechanism. Encourage relevant energy-consuming units to further increase the proportion of green power consumption above the mandatory green power consumption ratio.
Putting green electricity consumption as a mandatory requirement is undoubtedly an important measure to promote China’s green development transformation.
Source: Ying Xue’s China Ecological Civilization, March 19th, 2025. https://xueyingyingxue.substack.com/…/china-puts…
China Environment News 