Data from the Sichuan Power Trading Center reveals that during the first half of 2026, a total of 56 electricity sales companies and 588 power users in Sichuan participated in inter-provincial and intra-provincial green electricity trading, with transaction volumes exceeding 2 billion kilowatt-hours. Additionally, 55 electricity sales companies and 159 power users engaged in green certificate trading, transacting 2.58 million certificates.
From the supply side, the issuance of green certificates in Sichuan is dominated by hydropower, creating an absolute monopoly. In June alone, Sichuan sold 1.536 million green certificates at an average price of 4.92 yuan per certificate. In terms of power generation structure, conventional hydropower had a commanding lead with an 80.56% share, while solar and wind power accounted for only 16.22% and 3.21%, respectively. Due to Sichuan's long-standing first-place position in national hydropower installed capacity and the significant spillover effect of electricity during the wet season, hydropower green certificates have become the main force in the local issuance market.
On the trading side, despite hydropower accounting for 80% of issuance, the market shows a stronger preference for wind and solar certificates. In June, Sichuan purchased 1.1 million green certificates at an average price of 4.43 yuan per certificate, slightly lower than the average selling price. Among these, solar power led with a 47.38% share, followed by wind power at 28.47%, biomass power at 22.97%, and conventional hydropower at only 1.18%. Combined, wind and solar energy accounted for a dominant 75.85% of purchases, forming an absolute market preference on the demand side. This indicates that while Sichuan has issued a large number of hydropower green certificates, market buyers clearly favor wind and solar certificates, with very low willingness to purchase hydropower certificates.
Ye Xiaoning, deputy director of the New Energy Research Institute at the State Grid Energy Research Institute, analyzed that the divergence in Sichuan's green certificate market in June stems from two main factors. First, the tradability of existing hydropower green certificates is limited, resulting in a small supply base. Most hydropower stations in Sichuan are existing projects, and while they can issue a large number of green certificates, the majority are non-tradable transfer vouchers, only suitable for local consumption and accounting. The number of truly marketable hydropower green certificates available for public sale is limited. Second, the listing price of hydropower green certificates is relatively high compared to wind and solar certificates. The average selling price of 4.92 yuan per certificate is mainly driven up by the large supply of hydropower certificates, but actual transactions are very few. The real market transactions for wind and solar certificates form an average purchase price of 4.43 yuan per certificate. "This structural divergence is difficult to reverse quickly in the short term, and it will evolve gradually with the continuous advancement of integrated water-wind-solar development processes and the iterative updates of policy standards and market rules," Ye Xiaoning told reporters.
Comments