中英合资企业进军智能绿色电力交易市场 - 2026-08-04
A Sino-British energy joint venture is rapidly gaining traction in China's burgeoning green power market, signing electricity trading contracts exceeding one billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) within just months of its launch, according to its Chinese partner PCG Power.
The joint venture, Guangzhou Bitong Energy Technology Co., Ltd., was jointly established by leading British energy tech company Octopus Energy Group Limited and China's PCG Power, and officially began operations in May. It aims to help commercial and industrial enterprises optimize electricity costs while increasing the share of renewables in their energy mix, by leveraging digital tools and advanced algorithmic models.
Trading under the contracts for over one billion kWh of electricity is underway and will primarily serve Chinese commercial and industrial clients in sectors such as biopharmaceuticals, smart manufacturing and high-end commercial real estate, where complex energy consumption patterns and high energy costs require more refined energy management solutions, according to PCG Power.
"Our approach is simple: we use smart algorithms to match demand with green generation, taking cost out of the energy system for commercial customers and grid operators alike," said Celyn Cei Simmonds, head of trading at Octopus Energy, explaining how the AI-driven energy technology company operates at a recent event highlighting financial support for global investment in Guangdong, home to the joint venture.
Explaining why the joint venture chose to anchor its China operations in Guangdong, Simmonds pointed to the southern economic hub's immense scale and pioneering market reforms. "Guangdong is a true economic powerhouse. Peak power demand in Guangdong alone is nearly four times larger than the peak demand of the entire United Kingdom," he said.
Simmonds described Guangdong as the "ultimate innovation sandbox" for smart energy technology, citing the province's decisive lead in electricity market liberalization and spot trading.
The partnership blends international tech prowess with deep local roots. While Octopus Energy brings its proprietary Kraken platform and global expertise in electricity trading to the partnership, PCG Power, a one-stop green energy solutions provider headquartered in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, provides an extensive domestic client network as well as localized algorithms and trading strategies.
Speaking about the joint venture's mission, Li Wenxuan, chairman and CEO of PCG Power, said it will deliver more cost-effective, intelligent and reliable energy solutions to its commercial and industrial clients, while helping foster a more dynamic domestic electricity market and accelerate the broader green transition.
For Octopus Energy, Simmonds noted, "The joint venture offers its commercial and industrial clients a win-win solution: we help manufacturers and businesses lower their energy bills while helping them meet their low-carbon and carbon-neutrality targets."
He also shed light on how Octopus Energy is going to integrate its own expertise into China's broader shift toward greener power supply. "China is leading the world in building clean energy infrastructure," he said, adding, "With the incredible influx of wind and solar comes a new challenge."
By 2025, renewable energy installations accounted for more than half of China's total installed electricity generation capacity, driven by advances in technologies ranging from solar and wind power to energy storage and nuclear energy.
The progress underscores the country's commitment to achieving the dual carbon goals of peaking carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060. According to a national climate change plan for the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) released last week, China aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 17 percent by 2030 from 2025 levels.
The challenge for China, according to Simmonds, has shifted from merely building renewable electricity capacity to trading, forecasting, and dynamically balancing it. As China implements market-based electricity reforms, renewables and battery assets are moving away from fixed tariffs and entering competitive spot markets where energy is bought and sold in real time, he added.
Looking ahead, Octopus Energy has set a medium- and long-term target for the joint venture to trade 140 terawatt-hours (TWh) of renewable electricity annually by 2030, generating an estimated annual profit of 50 million pounds (about 67.34 million U.S. dollars).
China is setting global energy trends by turning its clean energy transition into an engine of industrial renewal, a transformation that benefits the world and opens new ground for China-Britain cooperation, according to Jack Perry, chairman of The 48 Group in Britain.
Source: Xinhua
