In Depth: Local and National Interests Clash in China’s New Green Power Market

In late April, a unit of the state-owned Chinese oil major Sinopec Group made the first purchase of electricity in Hubei province through a national green power trading system that is currently being piloted.

Sinopec Jianghan Petroleum Administration Bureau Co. Ltd., one of Sinopec Group’s power generation subsidiaries that purchases green power, committed to buying nearly 60 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity generated by certain renewable sources this year — all for a lower price than what the company would’ve paid for power from a more traditional polluting source.