On January 7, the National Energy Administration issued a notice on the “Implementation Rules for the Management of Renewable Energy Green Electricity Certificates (Trial),” introducing new regulations on the issuance, transfer, cancellation, and related management of green certificates.According to the document, the green certificate issuing agency must establish green certificate accounts for relevant entities based on the national green certificate issuing and trading system, recording details such as issuance, trading, transfers, and cancellations of green certificates.The document requires each province to establish a provincial green certificate account, primarily for monitoring the issuance, trading, and cancellation of green certificates within the administrative region. It will accommodate existing conventional hydropower green certificates procured by grid companies on behalf of consumers, green certificates corresponding to electricity volumes included in the renewable energy sustainable development pricing settlement mechanism, and other green certificates transferred without compensation. These accounts will also facilitate the participation of provincial energy authorities, in collaboration with relevant departments, in green certificate trading, allocation, or cancellation as needed.In terms of certification, green certificates are not issued for self-generated and self-consumed electricity from projects, off-grid renewable energy power generation, and grid-connected electricity from conventional hydropower units commissioned before January 1, 2023 (exclusive). Discharge electricity from independent energy storage facilities is not eligible for green certificate issuance. For renewable energy power generation projects equipped with energy storage facilities, separate metering should be implemented for both the power generation facilities and the energy storage facilities.In terms of trading, the scope of tradable green certificates shall be dynamically adjusted. Grid enterprises and power trading institutions must indicate whether the corresponding green certificate electricity is included in the sustainable development price settlement mechanism when collecting and reporting electricity consumption data.For distributed photovoltaic power generation projects with natural persons as the project entities that have been filed before the issuance of the “Measures for the Development and Construction of Distributed Photovoltaic Power Generation” (Guo Neng Fa Xin Neng Gui [2025] No. 7) and are connected to the grid and put into operation by May 1, 2025, where the project filing entity (project owner) and the investor are not the same entity, the project filing entity (project owner) may entrust the investor or other market operating entities to aggregate participation in green certificate issuance and trading.In terms of green certificate transfers, the green certificates corresponding to self-generated and self-consumed electricity are non-tradable. For cases where the production of self-generated and self-consumed electricity and the energy consumption belong to different entities, the certificates shall be transferred to the energy-consuming entity based on the actual application scenario of the electricity. For off-grid projects, both the electricity purchaser and seller must provide valid renewable energy electricity settlement certificates.In terms of offsetting, starting from January 1, 2026, when green certificate holders declare the offset of green electricity consumption with green certificates, the production year corresponding to the certificates must align with the year of green electricity consumption. Certificate holders are encouraged to improve the accuracy of time-matching between certificates and electricity. The amount of electricity corresponding to the offset green certificates should, in principle, not exceed the actual electricity consumption in the offset scenario.The write-off information form includes details such as the name of the green certificate holder, the number of green certificates written off, the application scenario, the year and month of green electricity consumption, and the location.
For specific content and interpretations, please refer to the following:Interpretation of the “Notice on Issuing the ‘Implementation Rules for the Management of Green Electricity Certificates for Renewable Energy (Trial)’ by the National Energy Administration”To standardize the full lifecycle management of green power certificates for renewable energy (hereinafter referred to as “green certificates”) and promote the high-quality development of the green certificate market, the National Energy Administration recently issued the “Detailed Rules for the Implementation of Green Power Certificate Management for Renewable Energy (Trial)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Implementation Rules”). The relevant content is interpreted as follows.1. Background of IssuanceThe Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee proposed accelerating the construction of a new energy system, advancing and achieving carbon peak in a proactive and steady manner, and rapidly forming green production and lifestyle patterns. The *Energy Law of the People’s Republic of China* stipulates that the state establishes a green energy consumption promotion mechanism through systems such as renewable energy green power certificates. The National Energy Administration thoroughly implements the decisions and plans of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, working with relevant departments to continuously improve the green power consumption system based on green certificates. In August 2024, it issued the *Rules for the Issuance and Trading of Renewable Energy Green Power Certificates*, establishing a full lifecycle management mechanism covering issuance, trading, application, and cancellation of green certificates. In March 2025, in collaboration with the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments, it released the *Opinions on Promoting High-Quality Development of the Renewable Energy Green Power Certificate Market*, further stimulating demand for green power consumption and unleashing the vitality of the green certificate market.Against this backdrop, the formulation of the “Implementation Rules” is primarily based on three core needs. First, it aims to accurately implement the top-level design by refining the principles outlined in the “Rules for the Issuance and Trading of Green Electricity Certificates for Renewable Energy,” focusing on clarifying procedural norms for key aspects such as certificate issuance, transfer, cancellation, supervision, and information management, thereby providing a clear operational guide for relevant entities in green certificate management. Second, it strengthens the coordination and linkage of mechanisms by defining the rules for aligning green certificates with voluntary emission reduction markets (CCER), sustainable pricing mechanisms for renewable energy, and carbon emission dual-control policies, ensuring the authority, uniqueness, and universality of green certificate environmental rights. Third, it directly addresses social concerns by targeting and resolving specific issues of interest to market participants, such as the issuance of green certificates for self-consumption and off-grid projects, handling disputes over green certificate data, and determining the ownership of green certificate environmental rights.The introduction of the “Implementation Rules” will further enhance the scientific rigor, standardization, and operability of the green certificate system, effectively filling gaps in existing regulatory documents at the practical level. This is of great significance for promoting the high-quality development of the green certificate market, fully unlocking the environmental value of green electricity, and facilitating a comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development.
Main content
The Implementation Rules consist of 10 chapters and 45 articles, which comprehensively refine the division of responsibilities, account management, green certificate issuance, green certificate transfer, green certificate verification, objection handling, information management, green certificate supervision and other aspects, and establish a complete and clear green certificate lifecycle management mechanism, providing institutional support for the standardized operation of renewable energy environmental rights and interests.
One is to deepen the collaborative mechanism. Improve the collaborative mechanism among the National Energy Administration and its dispatched agencies, provincial energy regulatory departments, power grid enterprises, electricity trading institutions, power generation entities, technical support units, etc., clarify the core responsibilities of each entity in green certificate management, and strengthen departmental linkage efficiency.
The second is to improve the account system. Using the national green certificate issuance and trading system account as the authoritative ledger, refine the functions and management requirements of various domestic and foreign accounts, and form standardized account management standards. Unify the establishment of provincial accounts, establish a linkage mechanism between national and provincial accounts, and strengthen the data foundation for local renewable energy electricity consumption and energy conservation and carbon reduction related accounting.
The third is to standardize the management of issuance. Systematically sort out the classification, issuance objects, and issuance standards of green certificates, and clarify the time limit requirements for key links; On the basis of full coverage of the public power grid, the requirements for applying for green certificates for projects with objective obstacles to green certificate issuance are specifically clarified, further deepening the full coverage of green certificate issuance for projects that have already been registered. Labeling and distinguishing the corresponding green certificates for the price settlement mechanism of sustainable development of new energy, in line with the new requirements of the comprehensive market-oriented reform of new energy.
Fourthly, refine the transfer rules. Clarify the requirements for green certificate transfer in scenarios such as green certificate market trading, green electricity trading, existing conventional hydropower, self use, and off grid projects, establish standardized transfer management, and ensure clear ownership of green certificates. Propose to include green certificates in the trading scope through market-oriented methods such as green power trading and channel transmission agreements, and clarify that the price of green certificates is greater than 0, effectively safeguarding the clear division of environmental rights and interests for cross regional consumption of green power.
Fifth, establish a sound verification mechanism. Focusing on the uniqueness of environmental attributes, classify and clarify the verification rules and environmental rights ownership in key scenarios such as expiration date, green power consumption declaration (certification), CCER verification and registration, account cancellation, etc., and propose time matching requirements for green power consumption declaration, providing authoritative evidence for subsequent green power consumption traceability, verification, evaluation, certification and other work.
Sixth, establish a sound mechanism for handling objections. Standardize the principles and processing procedures for objections to the issuance and transfer results of green certificates, improve the mechanism for refunding and supplementing green certificates, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of market entities.
Seventh, strengthen information supervision. The core requirements are to ensure the authenticity and traceability of data, clarify the data management responsibilities of relevant units, specify the punishment measures for illegal and irregular behaviors, strengthen the incentives for trustworthiness and constraints on dishonesty, and build a solid defense line for the green certificate market.
3、 After the official issuance of the Implementation Rules, the National Energy Administration will focus on the following three aspects of work.
One is to promote collaborative implementation. Green certificate issuance. The organization coordinates and guides the National Energy Administration’s dispatched agencies, power grid enterprises, electricity trading institutions, renewable energy information management centers and other units to jointly carry out the full life cycle management of green certificates, ensuring that the issuance, transfer, verification, objection handling, and supervision work are carried out in a standardized and orderly manner in accordance with the Implementation Rules.
The second is to strengthen system support. Continuously deepen the optimization and upgrading of the national green certificate issuance and trading system, strengthen the construction of system functions and cross platform interaction efficiency, and focus on ensuring efficient processing of massive issuance, trading, and transfer data in the new situation of full coverage of green certificate issuance and high-quality development of the green certificate market. Strengthen the traceability and intelligent statistical analysis capabilities of green certificates, and provide stable and efficient system support for the implementation of various provisions of the Implementation Rules.
The third is dynamic evaluation optimization. Closely monitor the implementation of the “Implementation Rules”, conduct regular monitoring and analysis of the operation of the green certificate market, respond promptly to the reasonable concerns of relevant management departments, market entities, and research institutions, study and solve new situations and problems, and continuously improve the green certificate management system.
Post time: Jan-09-2026