Chindata Group, a leading carrier-neutral hyperscale data center solution provider in Asia-Pacific emerging markets, announced that it has recently participated in China’s first nationwide green power transaction, and completed a procurement of 100 million kilowatt-hours (kWh). Such volume represents around 1.26% of the overall transaction and is expected to directly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 94,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. According to public data, a total of 259 domestic Chinese entities participated in this green power transaction, with a total transaction volume of 7.935 billion kWh.
Following the announcement of China’s goals of reaching peak carbon emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, a series of policies were introduced, with the pilot schemes for national carbon emissions trading and national green power trading being one of them. Such has offered additional alternatives to the green energy consumption ecosystem and make available more opportunities for Chindata Group as a digital infrastructure company.
Chindata Group has been constantly exploring and has identified four major initiatives for the strategic development of its green power consumption ecosystem and will continue to implement strategic upgrades. These initiatives include direct green power trading, innovative regional green power consumption mechanisms, development of renewable energy power stations and development of integrated power Generation-Grid-Load-Storage projects. Together, these are expected to set examples for the paths of green electricity consumption for digital infrastructure companies in China, while also further strengthening the sustainability initiatives of Chindata Group.
For the exploration on the innovative regional green power consumption mechanisms, Chindata Group has made accessibility to green energy one of its core site selection principles for its hyperscale data center infrastructure clusters. Zhangjiakou city in Hebei Province is China’s first National Renewable Energy Demonstration Zone, and has been the home base for Chindata Group’s first hyperscale data center cluster in the pan-Beijing area. Chindata Group has consumed a total of 440.2 million kWh green power through the green power consumption mechanisms in this region and reduced green gas emissions of around 415,000 tons.
In addition, Chindata Group is continuing to strengthen the uptake of green power and development of power plants. According to its 2020 ESG report, renewable energy accounted for 51% of annual total power consumption of its data centers. With abundant local renewable resources as a leverage, Chindata Group also seek to develop renewable energy power plants to provide consistent green electricity for its digital infrastructure. Its 150MW smart photovoltaic power plant oriented for local electricity consumption is expected to produce approximately 200 million kWh annually upon completion, directly cutting around 212,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent every year.
Meanwhile, Chindata Group is also exploring the development of power Generation-Grid-Load-Storage integration projects so as to promote the deep integration of new generation power systems with digital businesses, and has proposed the idea of China’s first super energy complex. To date, Chindata Group has reached renewable energy development agreement with several local governments.
