Photovoltaic and wind power plants generate electricity in Zhangjiakou, North China’s Hebei Province. Seizing the opportunity offered by the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, Zhangjiakou has accelerated the construction of power plants that use renewable energy sources. Photo: Xinhua

 
China's renewable electricity pilot trade program started on Tuesday, with hundreds of companies purchasing green electricity from new-energy power firms in China, according to media reports. 

A total of 259 market entities from 17 domestic provinces participated in the trading, with 7.94 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity being traded, according to a report from Shanghai Securities News. 

The first batch of purchasers included industrial giants from home and abroad, such as German chemical maker BASF, energy giant Schneider Electric Global, as well as German polymer giant Covestro.

According to a statement sent by BASF to the Global Times on Tuesday, six of the company's sites in Shanghai, Jiangsu and Guangdong participated in the trading, with the company aiming to secure renewable electricity of around 440,000 milliwatt-hours (mWh) till 2025 from various power producers.

BASF disclosed that its site in Nanjing, BASF-YPC Co, plans to secure 107,000 MWh of renewable electricity till the end of 2022, which is set to be provided by solar photovoltaics fields in Jiangsu.

The launch of the renewable electricity program came at a time when China is striving to reach its goal of peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality, an initiative that has pushed many companies in China to shift to products and business running models that are more friendly to the environment. 

Stephan Kothrade, president and chairman of BASF China, said that the company aims to maximize the use of renewable electricity in economically competitive conditions to "contribute to the carbon reduction ambition in China.” The firm had earlier set a goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

The pilot trade program aims to reduce standard coal burning by 2.43 million tons, while decreasing carbon dioxide by 6.07 million tons. 

The Shanghai Securities News report also noted that China's green electricity trade will first be applied to wind power and photovoltaics companies, and will then gradually extend to other renewable energies like hydroelectricity.