Carbon trading in power industry needs to pay attention to three issues

The power industry is one of the major industries for carbon emissions in China. In 2010, the carbon dioxide emissions of the power industry were close to 50% of the total national emissions. The electric power industry is also an important area of ​​carbon emission reduction. The cumulative reduction in carbon dioxide emission during the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” period exceeded 1 billion tonnes. With the establishment of China's carbon emission rights market, the power industry will inevitably become an important market player. With regard to the development of carbon trading in the power industry, there are several issues that need attention:

First, the development of carbon trading in the power industry must be conducive to the continued growth of electricity to support the development of electricity. As China’s economic and social development and people’s living standards increase, the demand for electricity will continue to increase at present and for a longer period of time. Carbon trading The launch should promote the healthy and sustainable development of the power industry, rather than creating new constraints. Therefore, in the design of the carbon market mechanism and rules, we must set a reasonable total carbon emission control target, formulate relevant policies and measures to encourage and encourage enterprises to reduce emissions, and promote the development of the power industry while achieving predetermined emission reduction targets.

Second, the power industry to develop carbon trading should fully consider China's energy resource endowments and distribution: China's energy resources endowment determines the power structure dominated by coal, and coal power development plays an important role in protecting China's power supply. Therefore, in the early stage of the carbon trading market, the carbon emission targets allocated to areas or companies dominated by coal-fired power generation should not be too small, and their sustainable development capabilities must be guaranteed. In addition, the allocation of carbon emissions indicators also need to take into account the regional energy resources endowment differences, to be conducive to the optimization of energy layout. For example, the allocation of carbon emissions indicators can be appropriately tilted toward the northwestern region where energy resources are concentrated to direct power supply to the west.

Third, the development of carbon trading in the power industry must be coordinated with the reform of the electricity market and electricity prices: At present, China's electricity prices have not been liberalized, and the electricity indicators are mainly allocated by the government. This is very different from foreign countries. Therefore, under the existing system and mechanism, on the one hand, the allocation of carbon emission indicators should be considered in conjunction with the electricity consumption index; on the other hand, government agencies should study the establishment of a linkage mechanism between the sales electricity price and the carbon market price to transfer carbon costs to Customers, promote customer energy saving and emission reduction. In addition, the reform of China's electricity market is gradually advancing, and the development of carbon trading market must be linked to the process of electricity marketization.