Chongqing Conducts First Hourly Green Electricity Trade

On August 28, State Grid Chongqing Electric Power Company, as one of the first pilot entities under State Grid Corporation of China, conducted Chongqing's first hourly green electricity trade. The initiative offers businesses a new way to address carbon-related requirements for exports. Eight electricity consumers and two power generators completed transactions totaling 20 million kilowatt-hours.

Staff members review data on green electricity trading. Photo by Yang Mingli

As carbon-reduction requirements in international trade become increasingly stringent, companies' demand for green electricity has continued to grow. Since the beginning of 2026, the volume of green electricity traded in Chongqing has reached 3.8 billion kilowatt-hours, while trading volume for Green Electricity Certificates (GECs) has exceeded 1.2 million certificates. Both figures represent sharp increases over the corresponding periods of previous years and have reached record highs.

Conventional green electricity trades are typically conducted using monthly or annual volumes, or volumes divided into 24 time periods. They do not precisely match companies' actual production hours with green electricity sources on a day-by-day basis and therefore cannot meet international certification requirements for recognizing green electricity transactions as contributing to carbon reduction. Hourly green electricity trading breaks transactions down by the hour, allowing companies' actual electricity load profiles to be matched with renewable energy generation profiles on an hour-by-hour basis. This precisely addresses different needs arising from areas such as granular energy-use management and the time-specific fulfillment of green electricity commitments. Through such precise matching, renewable energy generators and electricity consumers can certify when green electricity is consumed and trace its source.

The completion of the transaction offers a new approach to developing an innovative green electricity consumption certification mechanism in Chongqing. It will help more export-oriented businesses navigate international green trade rules, strengthen their competitiveness in global markets, and support the high-quality development of Chongqing's foreign trade sector.