The scene of "fishery and solar complementarity" mode in Ma'an community "upper can generate electricity and lower can raise fish". Photo by Liang Yuping Source: People's Bank of China
Photovoltaic panel array in a fish pond in Ma'an community. Photo by Chen Jinbo
The river network is longitudinal and horizontal, and the fish ponds are contiguous. Located in the Ma'an community of Nan'an Street, Gaoyao District, Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province, aquaculture is a traditional industry of the villagers.
With the launch of a green loan, the photovoltaic industry has taken root here. "Complementary fisheries and light" bring economic and ecological benefits.
The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to improve the fiscal, tax, financial, investment, price policies and standard systems that support green development, and develop green and low-carbon industries. In recent years, the mainland's financial industry has continued to promote the green development of the real economy, and by the end of last year, the balance of green loans in domestic and foreign currencies reached 15.9 trillion yuan, ranking first in the world.
Compared with traditional loans, what are the characteristics and advantages of green loans? What role can green loans play in promoting the transformation and development of traditional industries? The reporter recently tracked the approval, issuance and use process of this green loan in the Ma'an community to find the answer.
New green fish pond——
The upper can generate electricity, the lower can raise fish, and the "fishery and light complementarity" has greatly increased the income of villagers' aquaculture
"Plop, plop..." As the first rays of the morning sun spilled into the fish pond, the fish swimming in the water jumped, and the sound of the water gently cut through the winter silence of the Ma'an community.
As an important tributary of the Pearl River system, the Xijiang River forms a roundabout trend here, and the washing of the south bank of the river and the branch of the area work together to create a landscape where the river network crisscrosses and fish ponds are scattered.
Ma'an community consists of 6 natural villages, 12 production teams, a total of more than 500 households and more than 3,000 people. In addition to rice cultivation, animal husbandry is the main source of income for the village.
"The entire community has about 1,200 acres of fish ponds, and the community next door is also close to this number." While speaking, Meng Liqiang, a farmer in Ma'an community, used a bucket truck to pull up two bales of feed and prepared to go to the fish pond to feed the fish.
Following Meng Liqiang's footsteps to the fish pond, I saw rows of photovoltaic panels lined up neatly, like a bead chain embedded in the pond field, which was spectacular. Under the shimmering silver photovoltaic panels are schools of fish, and the combination of "upper power generation and lower fish farming" has become a landscape in the life of the villagers.
This is a newly built local "fishery and solar complementarity" project, and Meng Liqiang is the first farmer in Ma'an community to sign a project contract.
Last year, the relevant staff of the Guangdong branch of the construction party Huadian Xinneng came to the Ma'an community to promote the "fishery and solar complementarity" project, and most villagers had no concept of photovoltaic power generation, and some even suspected that photovoltaic panels were dangerous to radiation. However, after Meng Liqiang learned the scientific nature of the "fishery-light complementarity" model through many inquiries, he decided to be the first "crab eater".
This bold decision gave Meng Liqiang an unexpected harvest.
Zhaoqing has a hot summer climate. "In the past, there were no photovoltaic panels, and I had to be in a hurry when I encountered high temperature weather." Meng Liqiang told reporters that since 2003, his family and the village group have rented 100 acres of fish ponds, mainly breeding grass carp, bighead carp and nearly 20,000 ducks. In previous years, due to the high temperature, most of the fry and duck fry died, and the losses were heavy.
Today, in the fish pond of Meng Liqiang's house, the 4-meter-high photovoltaic "umbrella" brings shade. Whether it is fish in the water or ducks on the surface, the survival rate has improved, which has become the most intuitive benefit brought by the "fishery light complementarity" model.
"Ducks are hardy and afraid of heat, and the incidence of high temperature weather is very high." Meng Liqiang said that this year's summer heat caused some farming peers to lose nearly 30%, while his ducks were raised under photovoltaic panels, each gaining an average of about 200 grams compared to before.
Meng Liqiang calculated an account, the profit per mu of fish pond was about 1,000 yuan, but now under the photovoltaic panels, the profit per mu can reach 2,000 yuan or even 3,000 yuan, and the income can be increased by more than 500,000 yuan a year.
A good harvest is passed down by word of mouth. Meng Huanlin, a farmer in the fish pond adjacent to Meng Liqiang, decisively followed and immediately applied to erect photovoltaic panels in the fish pond.
"In the past, it took more than two months for the white duck to be slaughtered, but now it is out in one and a half months, and this alone can increase the income by 200,000 yuan." Meng Huanlin twisted his fingers to calculate the account, "In the past, the cost of building a duck shed was 100 yuan per square meter, but now the cost is reduced to 50 yuan by borrowing photovoltaic panel support columns to build a shed." ”
The benefits of "fishery-light complementarity" go far beyond that.
Fish pond rent is an important income for the Ma'an community. Meng Jinliang, deputy director of the community, told reporters that the community's 1,200 mu of fish ponds are leased to more than 30 farmers in the village, and rent is the main breeding cost of farmers.
At the beginning of last year, Yu Renxiao, deputy general manager of Huadian Xinneng Zhaoqing Company, found the community to explore the cooperation of "fishery and solar complementarity" photovoltaic power generation, in which Huadian subsidizes farmers a certain rent every year and gives preferential electricity fees to reduce farmers' production costs.
Meng Jinliang roughly calculated that renting 1,800 yuan per mu to Huadian Group would increase the rental income of the village collective by more than 700,000 yuan a year, and at the same time reduce the burden on farmers. "This is a good thing for the rich people of the village." He said.
As collective incomes have increased, the community has paved a 3-kilometer-long standard concrete road. At sunset, standing at the entrance of the village, the solar street lights on both sides of the road automatically turn on, and children play in front of their homes, showing a livable rural scene.
Industry rejuvenation——
After completion, the project is expected to provide 110 million kWh of clean electricity per year, which can meet the electricity consumption of more than 30,000 households for a whole year
In the fish pond of Ma'an Community in October, the sound of construction and people rose one after another.
Tether brackets, adjust orientation, install components... Workers move back and forth on pontoon boats, photovoltaic panels like "green golden houses" for fish ponds.
Speaking of the original intention of project promotion, Ye Fei, director of the engineering department of Huadian Xinneng Guangdong Branch, felt deeply that the "fishery-solar complementarity" model not only develops fisheries, but also reduces the consumption of fossil resources and maximizes the use of solar power generation, which is very in line with the development direction of the company's green transformation.
Under the guidance of the concept of green development, new energy power generation has become an important direction for the green and low-carbon transformation of mainland energy enterprises.
Last year, Huadian Group proposed that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, it will strive to add 75 million kilowatts of new energy installed capacity, and at the end of the "14th Five-Year Plan", the proportion of non-fossil energy installed capacity will reach 50%, and the proportion of non-coal installed capacity (clean energy) will be close to 60%.
To this end, Huadian Xinneng Guangdong Branch will take Zhaoqing as the key area for the expansion of new energy projects, and Huadian Xinneng Zhaoqing Company is specially responsible for the construction and operation of the 100 MW "fishery and solar complementarity" project on the south bank of Gaoyao, and plans to deploy photovoltaic panels in fish ponds in Ma'an community, Gangzao community and surrounding areas, covering an area of more than 2,000 mu and a total investment of 550 million yuan.
"After completion, the project is expected to provide 110 million kWh of clean electricity per year, save about 35,000 tons of standard coal, reduce about 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide, 600 tons of sulfur dioxide, and about 300 tons of nitrogen oxides, with obvious ecological benefits." Yu Renxiao said.
What is the concept of 110 million kWh? It is equivalent to the annual power generation of a micro-thermal power station, which can meet the electricity consumption of more than 30,000 households for a whole year.
Why did you choose Zhaoqing? Ye Fei introduced that the average sunshine in Zhaoqing City exceeds 1,000 hours of sunshine every year, rich in solar energy resources, and the Ma'an community, Gangzao community and surrounding fish ponds are continuously distributed in Nan'an Street, with an average altitude of about 10 meters, and the natural endowment has significant advantages.
Excellent transportation conditions are also a key factor in the implementation of the project. "The road network here is relatively complete, there are no large ramps, culverts, battery components and other equipment can be transported directly by car, and power access is also convenient." Ye Fei said.
Not only energy companies have the need for green development, but local governments are also striving to take the road of low-carbon development.
"Green transformation is an important direction for Zhaoqing's future economic and social development." Wu Handong, secretary of the party group of the Development and Reform Bureau of Gaoyao District of Zhaoqing City, told reporters that Huadian "fishery and solar complementarity" project is the first key green energy project in Gaoyao District, which will promote the development of local related industries, play a positive role in expanding employment and developing the tertiary industry, help open up new economic growth points, and have exemplary significance for building a local green and low-carbon economy.
Financial Green Help——
New energy power generation projects generally have large investment and long cycles, and require long-term financial support from financial institutions
With both ecological and economic benefits, it has achieved a win-win situation for all parties, and the "fishery and solar complementarity" project has been built quickly. However, funding is a practical issue that cannot be avoided in the promotion of the project.
New energy power generation projects generally have the characteristics of large investment amount and long return period, and cannot meet the project schedule requirements by relying on the company's own capital investment alone.
When Huadian Xinneng Zhaoqing Company started the project, its own capital could basically meet its initial construction needs. However, as the project rolls out, the purchase of photovoltaic panels requires a lot of capital, accounting for 40% of the total investment.
"The supplier asked for faster settlement, otherwise the supply would be affected, but the company's own funds were not enough to meet the requirements for purchasing materials..." Yu Renxiao recalled, seeing that the good project was blocked, the construction party and the community villagers were very anxious. They try to apply for financing support from financial institutions.
Due to the long loan cycle and low profit margin of green energy projects, the pre-approval, medium-term lending and post-loan management processes are very cumbersome, and many financial institutions are afraid of lending in this field.
At a critical moment, the "fishery and solar complementarity" project ushered in the dawn.
"Manager Yu, now that a batch of photovoltaic panels in the fish pond is operating normally, the progress of the new project is also going smoothly..." said this by Cheng Liwen, account manager of the customer department of the Zhaoqing branch of China Construction Bank. Talking about the green loan delivery process, she described it as "twists and turns".
Cheng Liwen recalled that after learning about the difficulties and funding needs of the project, she immediately went to the field to investigate and investigate, hoping to find a suitable financing solution for the project as soon as possible.
But with that comes the challenge. During the half-year construction period, the company needs to land financing in the first month, and at this time, the Zhaoqing branch has no experience in similar loan business.
"With small profit margins, long loan cycles, and large appropriations, many banks are afraid to take them, should we be cautious about this project?" When I first got involved in the project, someone in the branch raised an objection.
In order to gain the understanding and support of colleagues, Cheng Liwen led the team to the photovoltaic project construction site again.
"The rent of the fish pond can be reduced by about 70,000 yuan a year, and the fish and ducks raised are fatter than before." After listening to the villagers' explanations and seeing the economic value and development potential of the photovoltaic project, the team members dispelled the doubts in their hearts.
"Green finance is the established development strategy of China Construction Bank, although the loan income is small, but if the project and customers are well managed, our green finance 'plate' will become bigger and bigger." At another branch discussion, the loan project was finally finalized.
Cheng Liwen led the team to non-stop research on the unfamiliar field of the photovoltaic power generation industry.
The thorny question arises again. "Since the project department of the enterprise has just been established and there is a shortage of personnel, it is enough to collect declaration materials such as feasibility study reports and calculation tables in a short period of time." Yu Renxiao recalled the scene at that time, "The project department personnel had no clue for a while, looking at the names of the materials on the list and did not know where to start. ”
"I'm here to 'work' in your project department." Cheng Liwen took the initiative to invite Ying to the company's station, docked with the front-line personnel of the enterprise during the day, and sorted out and edited the materials at night.
At the same time, CCB Guangdong Branch intervened in a timely manner, organized multiple departments to evaluate and analyze the project, and set up a service team at the provincial, municipal and district levels to investigate the operation and development of the enterprise on the spot, and quickly collected materials and read and discussed. Within a week, the credit granting program was successfully launched.
"15-year term, 390 million yuan, the interest rate is much more favorable than the same period of loans." Cheng Liwen, who got the approval result, did not have time to be happy, and immediately began to sign a contract with the company and apply for relevant licenses.
Soon, the first batch of 170 million yuan of loan funds successfully entered the enterprise account.
Policy greening -
New concepts, new projects and new measures are promoting the extension of financial institutions to green
New energy power generation projects are inseparable from policy support.
While Cheng Liwen led the team to handle the loan procedures, People's Bank of China officially launched the carbon emission reduction support tool. Through the direct mechanism of "lending first and borrowing later", the People's Bank of China provides financial support at 60% of the loan principal for carbon emission reduction loans issued by financial institutions to relevant enterprises in key areas of carbon emission reduction, with an interest rate of 1.75%.
"If we get the help of carbon reduction support tools, we can offer companies more favorable interest rates." Cheng Liwen said that it is not easy to apply for the recognition of carbon emission reduction support tools, and it is necessary to calculate the carbon emission reduction effect data by combining carbon emission reduction and loan amount, which is a test of the ability of financial institutions to independently evaluate green projects.
Standing at the threshold of loan application, Cheng Liwen obviously had some difficulties. Procedures such as measuring carbon emission reduction effects, supplementing loan purposes and issuing vouchers will undoubtedly slow down the approval process. As the first batch of projects declared in Zhaoqing City, the process specification is still in the exploration stage, and there are many uncertainties.
After understanding these circumstances, the Zhaoqing Central Branch of the People's Bank of China took the initiative to intervene and provided guidance and assistance to China Construction Bank Zhaoqing Branch to improve the application procedures. With the support of all parties, Cheng Liwen's team strengthened the confidence to declare carbon emission reduction support tools.
"Immediately after the loan is issued, we will report the carbon emission reduction support tool through the provincial branch step by step, and the relevant industry, environmental protection and risk management materials meet the relevant requirements." Yu Zhanhong, a member of the team, told reporters that after the successful decision, the loan became the first green loan for carbon emission reduction support tools in Zhaoqing.
At present, with the help of carbon emission reduction support tools, Zhaoqing Branch has successively issued 260 million yuan of green loans for Gaoyao's "fishery and solar complementarity" project, helping enterprises save more than 20 million yuan in capital costs.
With the successful experience of the project and the support of national policies, Cheng Liwen continues to focus on green finance.
In June this year, CCB Zhaoqing Branch signed a cooperation agreement with Sihui Municipal Government and Huadian Guangdong Company to jointly promote the construction of 11.6 billion yuan of agro-solar complementary and decentralized wind power projects.
New concepts, new projects and new measures are promoting the extension of financial institutions to green.
Since the launch of the carbon emission reduction support tool, China Construction Bank has issued a total of 73.37 billion yuan of carbon emission reduction loans to 650 projects, and the approved loans have led to a total annual carbon emission reduction of 15.9033 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. By the end of the third quarter of this year, the balance of green loans of CCB Guangdong Branch reached 252.3 billion yuan, and green loans accounted for more than 13.8% of all loans. In the entire CCB system, the balance of green loans has reached 2.6 trillion yuan, a year-on-year growth rate of 32.19%.
The "concerto" of green finance to help rural revitalization is playing more and more fields of hope.
People's Daily (Version 19, 02 December 2022)