Yunnan's 15 Measures to Promote Green Power Consumption Accelerate the Transformation from "Green" to "Gold"

China News Service Kunming, February 28 (Lu Xicheng) — On the 28th, at a press conference held in Kunming, it was announced that the “Measures for Promoting Green Power Consumption in Yunnan Province” have been recently issued and implemented. The measures propose 15 policy initiatives to expand green power consumption space and accelerate transforming the advantages of green energy resources into industrial and developmental strengths.

Yunnan is a major province for green electricity in China. By the end of 2025, the province’s total installed power capacity will exceed 170 million kilowatts, with renewable energy capacity accounting for over 40%, green power capacity making up more than 90% and ranking among the top nationwide. The carbon dioxide emissions per kilowatt-hour are only 0.13 kilograms, the lowest in the country. Guo Jinhua, member of the Party Leadership Group, Deputy Director, and spokesperson of the Yunnan Development and Reform Commission, stated at the press conference that the current growth of renewable energy capacity in the province is ongoing, and the ways to consume electricity need to be diversified. The green value still needs to be comprehensively enhanced.

The measures focus on three areas. In terms of source-load coordination, efforts are made to strengthen resource-based industries such as aluminum, silicon, phosphorus, and non-ferrous metals. Industrial enterprises with a first-quarter electricity consumption increase of over 6% year-on-year will be rewarded with 0.05 yuan per kilowatt-hour for the incremental electricity, with a maximum of 400,000 yuan per enterprise. For the entire year, enterprises with an electricity consumption of 5 billion kilowatt-hours or more and a year-on-year increase of over 6% will receive a reward of 0.02 yuan per kilowatt-hour for the incremental part.

In cultivating new energy consumption scenarios, the plan is to coordinate the development of “green electricity + intelligent computing,” support the integrated development of renewable energy and hydrogen (ammonia) production, and provide continuous rewards of up to 13 yuan per kilogram for projects producing over 100 tons of green hydrogen annually. Additionally, new energy storage systems will be deployed at key nodes and in regions rich in renewable energy, virtual power plants and load aggregators will be promoted, and efforts will be made to enhance the flexibility and resilience of the power system.

Regarding transmission channels, the plan is to coordinate the “14th Five-Year Plan” for west-to-east power transmission, deepen long-term green power cooperation with East China and other regions, and optimize the allocation of clean energy on a larger scale.

Some provinces and cities have already begun to benefit from “green electricity-driven industries.” By 2025, Wenshan Prefecture’s total social electricity consumption will reach 54.066 billion kWh, becoming the first prefecture in the province to surpass 50 billion kWh. The green aluminum industry’s industrial output value will exceed 100 billion yuan, with leading companies such as China Aluminum, Weiqiao, and Shenhuo establishing operations. Chuxiong Prefecture is also developing “green electricity + hydrogen ammonia,” with a green hydrogen and ammonia project in the high-tech zone aiming to start construction within the year. Once completed, it is expected to produce 9,000 tons of green hydrogen annually and 50,000 tons of green synthetic ammonia.

In addition to expanding green electricity consumption space, Yunnan is also working to enhance the value of green electricity itself. Chen Fan, Deputy Director of the Yunnan Energy Bureau, stated that efforts will be made to promptly introduce plans for the transfer of conventional hydropower green certificates and the allocation of provincial green certificate accounts. Priority will be given to industries such as green aluminum, silicon photovoltaics, new energy batteries, non-ferrous rare metals, and export-oriented enterprises with green certificate requirements. The province will also expand the consumption market for Yunnan green electricity within the State Grid regions of East China and Chengdu-Chongqing, actively build an international energy corridor, and promote Yunnan’s electricity trade with South Asia and Southeast Asia to reach new heights.