The launch of the 'East Data West Computing' project has had an impact on data center enterprises' green certificates, green electricity, and carbon trading behaviors. What opportunities have arisen as a result? What proportion do data center enterprises hold in these markets? Can green certificate and green electricity trading further promote the true implementation of 'East Data West Computing'? How should data center enterprises participate in green electricity trading? As major energy consumers, what can data center enterprises do for the green electricity and green certificate trading market?
Frost & SullivanFrost & SullivanMr. Lu Jing, Partner and Managing Director of Frost & Sullivan Greater China, was interviewed.21Interviewed by Century Economic Report, for joint discussion The above topic .
21Century Economic Report
Q
What impact has the launch of the 'East Data, West Computing' project had on green certificates, green electricity, and carbon trading behaviors for data center enterprises? What opportunities have arisen as a result? What proportion do data center enterprises account for in these markets?
The launch of the 'East Data West Computing' project marks a national policy setting the tone for the domestic data center industry towards carbon reduction, energy conservation, environmental protection, and rational resource allocation. The trading activities of data center enterprises in the green electricity and green certificate markets as well as carbon trading markets are a direct reflection of their development and transformation towards green and low-carbon industries. As an industry that consumes a large amount of electricity, promoting its high-level or even full use of green electricity is an inevitable choice for the national industrial structure to upgrade and transform towards sustainable development. Therefore, in terms of results, the launch of the 'East Data West Computing' project has heated up the domestic data center industry's interest in green electricity, green certificates, and carbon trading markets, and the continuous warming of this industry in these markets is also foreseeable.
In the construction of 'East Data, West Computing', the coordinated development between data center enterprises and the green electricity and green certificate market has provided us with practical cases of green certificates and electricity being implemented in the market economy. This has shifted the focus of China's green electricity and green certificate market from being limited to multinational enterprises with overseas market demand to an organic integration of various players in environmental protection, manufacturing services, and capital markets, providing an excellent model for the future development of the market's model.
2021In China, the power consumption of data centers reached2,166Yidian,2022The conservatively estimated annual power consumption is expected to reach2,700Yidu scale. Among them30%The power supply comes from green electricity, that is, the annual consumption of green electricity by data centers in China has exceeded650Yidu/Each year, it accounts for approximately3%.
Q
Can green certificates and green power transactions further promote the real implementation of 'East Data West Computing'? Some argue that western green energy can enable local data centers to achieve carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals as soon as possible. The excess electricity can be traded with eastern data centers through green power and carbon sink methods. What's your opinion on this?
The core of the 'East Data, West Computing' project lies in the rational optimization of China's current data computing power production process by utilizing the rich renewable and environmental resources in western China.PUEProblems such as high values, low environmental benefits, and scattered production capacity have made China's data center industry an advantageous industry that combines service efficiency, environmental benefits, and economic output. Among these, the purchase and use of green electricity by data center enterprises are a core link. Only when the actual implementation of green electricity usage plans in enterprise data centers can truly mark the achievement of the sustainable development goals of the entire industry. On the other hand, green certificate trading is more focused on empowering the early development of projects. By purchasing green certificates, enterprises can not only endorse their own sustainable development planning but also provide effective support for the development of green power generation enterprises. Therefore, it is evident that green certificates and green electricity trading further provide impetus for the implementation of China's 'East Data West Computing' project.
Currently, the production of green electricity in the western region mainly meets the local data center's usage needs, and there are few cases where enterprises resell green electricity to third parties. Of course, as renewable energy's penetration rate into the overall energy market increases in the future, there are certain market opportunities for this model of resale through green electricity and carbon sink trading. However, the overall market is still in the exploration phase regarding cooperation models.
Q
How should data center enterprises participate in green power trading? As major energy consumers, what can data center enterprises do for the green power and green certificate trading market?
Data centers mainly participate in the market as buyers of green electricity transactions, mainly through negotiation, matching, and listing to engage in the purchase of green electricity resources in the market. They provide necessary financial and market resources for renewable energy producers. On the other hand, data centers can also provide digital management services for green power generation enterprises through data technology means, and they can be infrastructure providers and transaction data management service institutions upstream of the smart grid industry.
Firstly, we believe that data center enterprises should actively participate in the green power and green certificate market transactions to improve their own green power usage rate and follow a sustainable development path for enterprises. On the other hand, data center enterprises can explore potential data service opportunities in the production process of renewable energy to contribute to the development of the green power and green certificate trading market.
*This interview was published in21Century Economic Report, reporter: Guo Meiting The original title is Data Center Layout Green Power Trading: "East Data, West Computing" has heated up market enthusiasm, and enterprises are looking forward to establishing multi-year, cross-provincial and cross-regional trading rules (Click on "Read the Original Article" at the end of the text to read the full report).
