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Policy trends
The Cyberspace Administration of China released the Digital China Development Report (2022): The ecological environment data resource system continued to improve, with a total of 16.9 billion
On May 23, the Cyberspace Administration of China released the Digital China Development Report (2022). The report points out that the application of digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, remote sensing, Internet of Things, and cloud computing in ecological environmental protection and governance has been deepening. The ecological environment data resource system has been continuously improved, and 33 types of data, such as monitoring data of air quality township stations, information on sewage outlets entering rivers and seas, and hazardous waste disposal and transfer information, have been newly received or supplemented, with 1.772 billion new data and a total of 16.9 billion data.
The national civil space infrastructure atmospheric environment monitoring satellite and the terrestrial ecosystem carbon monitoring satellite have been launched and are operating stably in orbit, marking an important step in the construction of the continental space-based carbon monitoring system. The first national carbon measurement center was established to tackle major carbon measurement issues and strengthen the collection, analysis, evaluation and application of carbon measurement data. (Cyberspace Administration of China)
National Energy Administration: Exempt some distributed wind power projects from power business licenses
36 Carbon learned that the National Energy Administration organized the drafting of the Notice on Further Regulating Matters Related to the Administration of Power Business Permits for Renewable Energy Power Generation Projects (Draft for Comments). It proposes to exempt some distributed wind power projects from power business licenses. On the basis of the existing permit exemption policy, distributed wind power projects connected to the grid with voltage levels of 35kV and below nationwide will be included in the scope of license exemption, and no longer require a power business license.
The Draft for Comments shows that the permit renewal policy for renewable energy power generation projects (units) will be adjusted. The renewal of hydropower unit permits will no longer be carried out. When a hydropower unit applies for a power business license, it will no longer register the design life of the unit.
Guidelines for the Construction of Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality Standard Systems in the Industrial Sector (2023 Edition) (Draft for Comments) released
On May 22, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology publicly solicited opinions on the Guidelines for the Construction of the Standard System for Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality in the Industrial Sector (2023 Edition) (Draft for Comments). It pointed out that by 2025, the standard system for carbon peaking and carbon neutrality in the industrial sector will be basically established. In view of the development status and future development trend of low-carbon technologies and the development needs of the industrial sector, more than 200 urgently needed standards for carbon peaking have been formulated.
Focus on formulating standards in the fields of basic general, accounting and verification, low-carbon technology and equipment, and provide technical support for carbon assessment and carbon emission reduction in the industrial field. Accelerate the development of carbon emission management and evaluation standards, promote in-depth carbon reduction in the industrial sector, and guide the low-carbon and high-quality development of related industries. (MIIT official website)
Energy Watch
Sungrow Cao Renxian: It is expected that mainland photovoltaics will become the first non-fossil energy power generation source in 2023
From May 24th to 26th, the 16th (2023) International Solar Photovoltaic and Smart Energy Conference & Exhibition of SNEC was held in Shanghai. Cao Renxian, chairman of China Photovoltaic Industry Association and chairman of Sungrow, said in his speech that China's photovoltaic industry has become the most complete industrial chain in the world and has maintained a global leader in all links. China's photovoltaic industry continues to maintain a rapid growth trend, and it is expected that in 2023, the cumulative installed capacity of mainland photovoltaics will surpass hydropower for the first time and become the first source of non-fossil energy power generation.
Cao Renxian also predicted that with the depletion of traditional energy sources and the continuous rise in prices, photovoltaic power generation will soon become the most economical form of electricity. A series of new formats and new industries extended by photovoltaic are also gradually taking shape, and will achieve explosive growth, including "photovoltaic + energy storage", "photovoltaic + hydrogen energy", and "photovoltaic + automobile".
For more information about SNEC, please refer to 36 Carbon Report: "After visiting SNEC attended by more than 500,000 people, we sorted out five trends of new energy" and "Giants discuss photovoltaics: the industry is facing three major challenges"
LONGi Green Energy Releases Innovative Results, Perovskite Tandem Cell Conversion Efficiency Exceeds 31.8%
At the SNEC conference on May 24, LONGi Green Energy held a scientific and technological innovation conference and announced an innovative achievement of battery conversion efficiency.
According to the authoritative certification report of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE), LONGi Green Energy has achieved a conversion efficiency of 31.8% for crystalline silicon-perovskite tandem cells on commercial-grade suede CZ silicon wafers, which is also the highest internationally certified conversion efficiency obtained based on the superposition of perovskites on commercial CZ silicon wafers. (China Energy News)
Penghui Energy: It plans to invest 13 billion yuan to build an energy storage battery project with an annual output of 36GWh
36 Carbon learned that Penghui Energy announced on May 22 that the company plans to invest in the construction of energy storage No. 1 project in Chengyang District, Qingdao City, Shandong Province, with an annual output of 36GWh energy storage batteries. The project is divided into three phases, and will build energy storage battery projects with an annual output of 12GWh respectively, with a total investment of about 13 billion yuan. The first phase of the project is scheduled to start construction before the end of September 2023 and be completed and put into operation by the end of December 2024.
Hydrogen fuel cell "unicorn" Guohong hydrogen energy rushed to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with a market value of more than 7 billion
On May 22, Guohong Hydrogen, a hydrogen fuel cell manufacturer one of the unicorns of the hydrogen energy track, submitted a prospectus again and applied for listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Guohong Hydrogen Energy submitted its first form to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on November 22, 2022, but has not yet passed the hearing.
Guohong Hydrogen Energy was established in June 2015, the main business is the research and development, production and sales of hydrogen fuel cell stacks and hydrogen fuel cell systems. According to the prospectus, Guohong Hydrogen Energy has undergone 10 rounds of external investment from November 2016 to September 2022. In the last round of financing, Jiaxing Hydrogen Port injected 546 million yuan at a price of 16 yuan per share, and after this round of financing, Guohong Hydrogen Energy was valued at 7.48 billion yuan after investment.
In terms of competitive landscape, in 2022, the market size of China's hydrogen fuel cell stacks will be about 716.6 MW in terms of shipments, of which the top four companies account for about 70.6% of the total market size. In 2022, the shipment volume of Guohong hydrogen hydrogen fuel cell stack will be 175.2 MW, accounting for 24.4% of the market share, ranking first in the industry. (The Paper)
National Energy Administration: The total installed capacity of mainland wind power photovoltaic power generation exceeded 800 million kilowatts
The National Energy Administration reported on the 25th that as of the end of April this year, the mainland wind power installed capacity of 380 million kilowatts, photovoltaic power generation installed 440 million kilowatts, wind power photovoltaic power generation total installed capacity reached 820 million kilowatts, accounting for 30.9% of the country's installed power generation, of which wind power accounted for 14.3%, photovoltaic power accounted for 16.6%.
From January to April this year, the national wind power photovoltaic installed capacity was 62.51 million kilowatts, accounting for 74% of the country's new installed capacity, an increase of 11.5 percentage points year-on-year. Among them, wind power added 14.2 million kilowatts and photovoltaic power generation added 48.31 million kilowatts, accounting for 16.8% and 57.2% of the country's new installed capacity, respectively. From January to April this year, the national wind power photovoltaic power generation reached 482.8 billion kWh, a year-on-year increase of 26.8%, accounting for 17.2% of the entire society's electricity consumption, an increase of 3 percentage points over the same period last year. (Zhongxin Finance)
Venture capital dynamics
Energy storage system solution provider "Guorui Co-creation" completed a pre-A round of financing of more than 100 million yuan
Recently, Shenzhen Guorui Xiechuang Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Guorui Xiechuang") completed a pre-A round of financing of more than 100 million yuan, led by Chaos Investment, followed by Songhe Capital and other institutions, and Light Source Capital served as financial advisor. This round of financing funds will be used to continue to strengthen R&D investment in a full range of energy storage products and core components, and further expand production capacity.
Founded in 2021, the company's main business includes R&D, manufacturing, sales and service and intelligent operation and maintenance of energy storage products covering different granularities on the source network and industrial and commercial sides. (Light Source Capital)
"Tengsheng" completed tens of millions of Series A financing and launched microinverters and micro-grid-connected products
36 Carbon learned that Suzhou Tengsheng Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Tengsheng") completed a series A financing of tens of millions of yuan, led by GLP Hidden Mountain Capital, and the amount of this round of financing will be mainly used for the R&D and iteration of photovoltaic storage products, the expansion of R&D and production centers, etc. Potential Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor.
Founded in December 2019, Tengsheng focuses on the research and development of microinverters and energy storage products, aiming to create a diversified integrated platform for energy storage and smart energy and provide photovoltaic solutions.
Using carbon dioxide to produce solid bricks, "Zero Carbon" completed tens of millions of yuan angel + round of financing
36 Carbon learned that "Zero Carbon" completed a 10 million yuan angel + round of financing, funded by Yuanhe Origin, Sumitomo Corporation Asia Capital and other industrial investors. This round of financing will be used for the construction planning and technology research and development of the continuous implementation of the carbon dioxide mineralization production line.
The main research and development direction of "Zero Carbon Capture" is to use the captured carbon dioxide to manufacture carbon sequestered concrete building materials to achieve efficient storage of waste carbon dioxide. In terms of team, the technology developed by "Zero Carbon Capture" comes from the State Key Laboratory of Clean Energy Utilization (CEU) of Zhejiang University.
Enterprise ESG
Fidelity released the "ESG Practice of Chinese Enterprises" report: 47% of the surveyed companies plan to re-examine their quantitative ESG goals
Fidelity's research report on ESG Practice of Chinese Enterprises released on May 25 shows that the acceptance and ESG awareness of Chinese listed companies show a mature and steady development trend. Two-thirds of companies surveyed plan to evaluate their performance in ESG focus areas over the next 12 months. More than half of the surveyed companies will increase their investment in technology and data capabilities to improve the efficiency of ESG data collection. In addition to ESG strategy assessment and optimized data collection, 47% of respondents also plan to re-examine their quantitative ESG goals.
The report, which draws on the Economist Intelligence Unit's research network and resources, surveyed 262 senior executives at the top management and director levels of Chinese listed companies. (SSE Report)
MYbank ESG Report: Inclusive small and micro enterprises, rural finance, and green finance will grow steadily in 2022
On May 22, MYbank released its 2022 sustainability report. The report shows that MYbank has grown steadily in three core areas, including inclusive small and micro finance, rural finance, and small and micro green finance, among which the health of small and micro finance and green finance have become the focus of attention.
This is the second year that MYbank has disclosed the progress of ESG-related work, and has previously stated that its business direction is 100% in line with ESG goals. Jin Xiaolong, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of MYbank, said that over the past year, MYbank has continuously explored ESG development methods with MYbank's characteristics, and has begun to try to integrate the concept of "financial health" into business practice to help small and micro customers improve their financial health in an all-round way. (Economic Observation Network)
Green finance
Global carbon pricing revenues reached a record high of nearly $100 billion in 2022
According to the World Bank's State of Carbon Pricing and Future Trends report, released on May 23, global carbon tax and emissions trading system revenues reached a record high of about $95 billion in 2022. The report shows that while adoption of emissions trading systems and carbon taxes is rising in emerging economies, high-income countries still dominate.
Compared to 2021, carbon credit issuance and retirement decreased slightly in 2022. According to the World Bank, this is due to macroeconomic conditions, criticism of carbon credits and offsets, and bottlenecks in issuance. (Watch News)
PICC Property & Casualty issued the first carbon asset pledge financing guarantee insurance policy
PICC Property & Casualty recently signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange, and issued PICC Property & Casualty's first carbon asset pledge financing loan guarantee insurance policy in Shanghai. The policy was jointly provided by PICC Property & Casualty Shanghai Branch and China Construction Bank Shanghai Zhangjiang Branch to Shanghai Disano Chemical Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. with carbon asset pledge financing services, marking a major breakthrough in the inclusive financial sector of PICC Property & Casualty in the field of "dual carbon" green finance.
The so-called "carbon asset pledge financing loan guarantee insurance" means that the insurer uses the carbon emission right pledge loan contract as the underlying contract to provide credit enhancement support for the loan of the owner (policyholder, i.e. enterprise) of the carbon asset, and ensure that the financial institution realizes the compensation for the difference in pledge interest. (The Paper)
The first batch of carbon emission reduction support tools for local corporate banks in Chongqing were launched
At present, the Chongqing Business Management Department of the People's Bank of China has issued the first batch of carbon emission reduction support tools for local corporate banks of 76.68 million yuan, supporting local corporate banks such as Bank of Chongqing and Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank to issue 14 loans to carbon emission reduction projects such as wind power generation, solar energy utilization and biomass energy utilization facilities construction and operation, with a weighted average interest rate of 2.89%, which is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 23,000 tons per year.
In the next step, the Chongqing Business Management Department of the People's Bank of China will continue to promote financial institutions in its jurisdiction to make good use of carbon emission reduction support tools, increase the financing docking of key carbon emission reduction projects, promote the incremental expansion of carbon emission reduction loans, and actively help achieve the "dual carbon" goal. (China Financial News Network)
Cutting-edge technology
Continental scientific research team develops foldable monocrystalline silicon solar cells
On May 24, Nature, a top international academic journal, published the latest results of the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Di Zengfeng's scientific research team has developed a new flexible monocrystalline silicon solar cell, which is only 60 microns thick and can be bent and folded like paper, but its excellent portable performance does not affect its photoelectric conversion efficiency, and it has broad application prospects in space applications, green buildings, and portable power in the future. (CCTV Finance)
Emerging ocean carbon capture technologies will extract one gigaton of carbon directly from the ocean
Captura, a carbon removal company founded at the California Institute of Technology, has proposed an emerging technology called direct ocean capture (DOC). This technology enables direct ocean capture through the company's patented electrodialysis process, extracting carbon dioxide from seawater and releasing purified water back into the ocean. This technology uses only renewable electricity and seawater as input to minimize environmental impact.
It is reported that this DOC technology will be able to extract one billion tons of carbon from the ocean in the future. (Global Zero Carbon)
The study found that the carbon sequestration capacity of alpine grassland on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau increased by 1.14 million tons per year
According to the news from the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ma Yaoming, a researcher in the research team of geogas and climate effects of the institute, cooperated with Peking University, Chengdu University of Technology, the University of New Hampshire, Cornell University and other colleagues to complete a new study.
The study found that under the background of climate warming and humidification, the carbon sequestration capacity of the alpine grassland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau continued to increase at an annual growth rate of 1.14 million tons. However, in the future, as the temperature of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau continues to rise, the thawing of permafrost may accelerate and the release of carbon may increase, which will weaken the carbon sequestration capacity of alpine grasslands. (China Science Network)
Overseas hot spots
International Energy Agency: Global solar investment is expected to surpass oil for the first time this year
On May 25, local time, the IEA released the 2023 World Energy Investment Report. The report notes that more than $1.7 trillion will be spent on clean energy technologies this year, compared with about $1 trillion in fossil fuels such as oil. The gap between clean energy investment and fossil fuel investment is growing.
Currently, the ratio of investment in fossil fuels to clean energy is 1:1.7; five years ago, the ratio was 1:1. It is worth mentioning that for the first time, global investment in solar energy will exceed investment in oil production. (International Energy Agency)
The EU will move forward with joint purchases of hydrogen and key raw materials
On May 22, the EU said it would move forward with plans to jointly purchase hydrogen and key raw materials. Previously, the first attempt by the EU to jointly buy gas was oversubscribed. The EU plans to advance the platform to match buyers and sellers of hydrogen and other raw materials, which are critical to green technology, according to the news.
A number of leading energy companies participated in the first round of joint gas purchases, meeting the needs of gas buyers of 10.9 billion cubic meters – exceeding 80% of the EU's year-end target of 13.5 billion cubic meters. (Interface News)
The world's largest monomer refinery was completed and commissioned in Nigeria
On May 22, the Dangote Refinery, invested and constructed by the Dangote Group of Nigeria and the Nigerian National Oil Corporation, was completed and put into use. This is the largest monomer refinery in the world.
Located on the Lekki Peninsula in Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub, the Dangote refinery covers an area of 2,653 hectares with a total investment of more than US$18 billion and can process up to 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, refining crude oil into petroleum products for different purposes such as diesel, gasoline, kerosene and polypropylene. It is understood that the civil engineering and core equipment installation tasks in the Dangote refinery project are undertaken by Chinese enterprises. (CCTV News)