For the first time, renewable energy has accounted for more than half of the market-based electricity transactions within the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC)’s operating area.
Source: China Electric Power News
For the first time, renewable energy has accounted for more than half of the market-based electricity transactions within the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC)’s operating area. According to the Beijing Power Exchange Center, market-based electricity transactions reached 5.02 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2024, exceeding the 5 trillion kWh mark for the first time and registering a 7.3% year-on-year increase.
The share of renewables in these transactions continued to grow, with 769.9 billion kWh of renewable energy traded on the market, making up 51.8% of China’s total renewable power generation of 1.4684 trillion kWh. This marks a significant milestone, as market mechanisms have become the primary means of integrating renewables into SGCC’s grid. Alongside the expansion of renewable energy transactions, green power trading in SGCC’s operating area surged to 135.8 billion kWh in 2024, reflecting a 122% increase from the previous year, according to the Beijing Power Exchange Center. Meanwhile, green certificate trading saw even more dramatic growth, skyrocketing more than sixfold to 176 million certificates.
The number of participants in SGCC’s electricity market has also expanded significantly. By the end of 2024, over 650,000 entities were active in the market—more than 20 times the number in 2015. Among them, over 4,000 were new participants, including distributed energy providers, charging station operators, new energy storage firms, and virtual power plants, reflecting the diversification of China’s energy market.
Distributed photovoltaic (PV) systems have also seen notable success in market integration. In eight provinces, including Anhui, policymakers have facilitated the participation of distributed solar power through aggregation models and market-driven pricing mechanisms, leading to transactions exceeding 2.1 billion kWh. Green power trading has further accelerated, with the Beijing Power Exchange Center introducing long-term green power agreements that were piloted in 2025 annual transactions, securing contracts for over 30 billion kWh of renewable electricity. With market-driven trading playing an increasingly vital role in renewable energy adoption, SGCC continues to advance power market reforms, supporting China’s transition to a more sustainable and efficient energy system.
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