China's green power trading volume jumps 50%

China's green power trading volume surged nearly 50 percent year-on-year in the first five months of 2025, exceeding 220 billion kilowatt-hours, the China Electricity Council (CEC) said on Wednesday.

Nationwide market-based power trading volume increased from 1.1 trillion kilowatt-hours in 2016 to 6.2 trillion kilowatt-hours in 2024, accounting for 63 percent of total electricity consumption, up from 17 percent, a significant shift toward market-driven resource allocation, said the council.

New energy sources are fully participating in market competition in China in recent years, driven by record-high installed capacity and power generation.

In 2024, market-based trading of new energy power exceeded 1 trillion kilowatt-hours, representing 55 percent of total new energy generation. This demonstrates the readiness of new energy sources for full participation in power market transactions, it said.

Yang Kun, executive vice-chairman of the China Electricity Council, attributed the rapid growth of green power trading to rising green consumption demand.

He highlighted the environmental value of green power, its enhancement of corporate green competitiveness, and its positive contribution to the green and low-carbon transformation of the energy and power sector.

"China has significantly improved its grid infrastructure and capacity in recent years, with inter-provincial transmission capacity exceeding 300 million kilowatts," he said.

"Accelerating the construction of a unified national power market and the regular cross-provincial and cross-regional green power trading further optimizes power resource allocation nationwide."