Power grid workers install spacers on the 1,000-kilovolt Sichuan–Chongqing ultra-high-voltage AC project near the Xiaotiandu hydro plant in Kangding, Sichuan. (Photo/Sichuan Online)
Chongqing - Chongqing’s green power trading hit 3.18 billion kilowatt-hours by the end of November 2025, while sales of Green Electricity Certificates (GECs) surpassed 1.2 million — both reaching record highs. Citywide demand for green electricity is projected to exceed eight billion kilowatt-hours this year.
In China, green power refers to electricity generated from renewable sources such as wind and solar that meet national standards and are registered in the national renewable energy information system. Through market trading, both the actual electricity and its environmental attributes are transferred.
For every megawatt-hour of non-hydro renewable power delivered to the grid, a Green Electricity Certificate (GEC) is issued. These certificates verify renewable generation for power producers and serve as key proof for end-users that they are consuming green electricity.
Against this backdrop, from November to December 2024, Chongqing organized 48 power retail service companies and 533 enterprises to apply for 2025 inter-provincial green power trades and, for the first time, opened intra-city green power trading.
According to State Grid, by January 2025, Chongqing had already completed 2.2 billion kilowatt-hours of green power transactions, including 1.7 billion kilowatt-hours in inter-provincial trades and 500 million kilowatt-hours within the city, while GEC transactions had exceeded 350,000. Of the 3.18 billion kilowatt-hours traded so far this year, 1.0 billion kilowatt-hours have been concluded in the local market and 2.18 billion kilowatt-hours in the inter-provincial market.
To deliver such volume, Chongqing has absorbed green electricity from 10 provinces and regions across Northwest, Southwest, and North China, drawing on nine ultra-high-voltage transmission corridors, including the Hami–Chongqing ±800-kilovolt ultra-high-voltage direct current transmission project and the Deyang–Baoji ±500-kilovolt direct current transmission project. And for the first time, Chongqing has purchased power across operating zones from Western Inner Mongolia.
Overall, Chongqing’s 2025 green power trading volume is estimated to be equivalent to saving about 383,000 tonnes of standard coal.
On the demand side, green power users in Chongqing now span key sectors, including manufacturing and the electrolytic aluminium industry. Beneficiaries include both large local industrial companies and export-oriented manufacturers, some of which see purchasing green power as an important way to integrate into global supply chains.
“Buying green power is both a response to global sustainable development trends and a pragmatic way to balance compliance requirements, brand-building and cost control, helping companies achieve long-term, steady growth on the path to sustainability,” said a representative of AT&S (Chongqing) Co., Ltd., an international electronics manufacturer that has benefited from green power trading.
In the GEC market, Chongqing Power Exchange Center closely tracks market developments and provides end-to-end services, covering registration of trading entities, trading operations, and certificate transfers. Taking Chongqing’s electrolytic aluminium industry as an example, among the three companies subject to annual assessments, two have already completed their GEC purchases, and the remaining one is still in negotiations.
“As China sets target ratios for green power consumption in key industries, green certificates are playing a bigger role,” said a representative of Chongqing Guofeng Industrial Co., Ltd., a state-owned producer of primary aluminium, electricity, and aluminium alloy components. “For a state-owned key enterprise like ours, buying green certificates not only enhances our environmental image, but also helps reduce carbon emissions and environmental risks and improve the international competitiveness of our products.”