CNPC Completes Its First Million-Certificate Green Power Transaction

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has completed its first single-batch transaction involving one million green power certificates, marking a milestone in the company's low-carbon transition efforts. On 1 December, after certification and redemption through China's National Green Power Certificate Issuance and Trading System, Tarim Oilfield transferred one million green power certificates to Guangdong Petrochemical. This represents the largest such transaction within CNPC to date and underscores the company's progress in strengthening synergies across its new energy industry chain.

Green power certificates — formally known as renewable energy green power certificates — serve as the electronic identity for renewable electricity in China. They are the sole proof of the environmental attributes of renewable power generation and the exclusive basis for verifying renewable electricity production and consumption. Each certificate corresponds to 1,000 kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity; issuance or transfer confirms that this volume of green power has either entered the grid or been consumed. The delivery of one million certificates signifies that Tarim Oilfield supplied one billion kilowatt-hours of green electricity to Guangdong Petrochemical, equivalent to replacing 300,000 tonnes of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 540,000 tonnes.

The transaction highlights deep collaboration between CNPC's upstream and downstream enterprises in advancing green development. Through the Group's internal energy synergy mechanism — linking upstream green electricity production with downstream green certificate consumption — the deal ensures precise matching of new energy output with emission-reduction needs. For Guangdong Petrochemical, it boosts the share of non-fossil energy in its energy mix and supports future product green certification and international expansion. For Tarim Oilfield, it creates a stable consumption path for new energy, completing a 'generation–consumption–certification' closed loop that enables efficient circulation and value realisation of green electricity.

China's green power certificate market has seen continued improvement in recent years. Tarim Oilfield has accelerated its carbon asset development strategy, actively participating in certificate trading while advancing large-scale new energy bases in desert, grassland, and wasteland areas. Five centralised photovoltaic stations have been completed, with installed capacity reaching 2.6 million kilowatts — providing a solid foundation for stable certificate supply.

Guided by China's dual-carbon goals, CNPC has expanded its new energy portfolio and accelerated its green transformation, delivering notable achievements across several oilfields:

Tarim Oilfield

Since the start of the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan, Tarim Oilfield has accumulated 2.52 million green power certificates, achieving electricity savings of 94 million kilowatt-hours — equivalent to 204,000 tonnes of standard coal and a carbon dioxide reduction of about 530,000 tonnes.

The 24-megawatt photovoltaic project at Fuman Oilfield, CNPC's first international carbon asset initiative for new energy, recently completed carbon emission reduction trading, earning recognition as a 'Leading Enterprise' in China's industrial carbon peak efforts.

Southwest Oil and Gas Field

Since the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan began, the field has accumulated over 3,200 green power certificates, generating more than 36.5 million kilowatt-hours of electricity — equivalent to saving 11,000 tonnes of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by around 29,000 tonnes.

Southwest Oil and Gas Field has built 59 distributed photovoltaic projects with total installed capacity of 28,000 kilowatts, and is advancing additional photovoltaic projects exceeding 200,000 kilowatts.

Qinghai Oilfield

Since the beginning of the current Five-Year Plan, Qinghai Oilfield has accumulated over 200,000 green power certificates, saving around 190,000 tonnes of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 510,000 tonnes.

Its Wutumeiren Kaichi Photovoltaic Power Station is CNPC's first centralised, grid-connected project with installed capacity of one million kilowatts. To date, it has supplied 641 million kilowatt-hours of electricity to the grid.

Yumen Oilfield

Since the start of the Five-Year Plan, Yumen Oilfield has accumulated 1,824,500 green power certificates, saving approximately 521,200 tonnes of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 1,277,600 tonnes.

Capitalising on strong solar resources, the field has built two centralised photovoltaic stations, two distributed photovoltaic projects, and one hydrogen-production-supporting photovoltaic project. These facilities now provide 100% green electricity for five office zones, residential areas, and 13 public facilities at the Jiuquan base.

Hohhot Petrochemical

Since the start of the Five-Year Plan, Hohhot Petrochemical has accumulated over 648,600 green power certificates, achieving annual electricity savings of 13,084,600 kilowatt-hours — equivalent to conserving 34,500 tonnes of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by around 93,000 tonnes.

Using a model combining self-generated power and green certificate supplementation, Hohhot Petrochemical achieved 100% green electricity supply for the first time in 2024, becoming CNPC's first 'fully green-powered factory'. This year, a 194.88-kilowatt photovoltaic carport was completed, saving 365,000 kilowatt-hours annually and cutting carbon emissions by approximately 292 tonnes.