Water is released from a dam at a small hydroelectric power station in Lishui. [Photo/lsnews.com.cn]

In order to respond to the country's goals of achieving peak carbon and carbon neutrality and to promote small hydroelectric power to participate in carbon trading, Lishui city – located in East China's Zhejiang province – has been actively exploring the use of international green hydropower certificates.

In October 2022, Lishui completed the registration, issuance and transaction of 140,000 International Renewable Energy Certificates – also known as I-RECs – for the first of six small hydropower stations. To date, 600,000 I-RECs have been signed and converted into carbon sinks worth 3 million yuan ($442,612).

The I-REC is used to record and declare enterprises' use of wind, solar, water and other renewable energy power generation methods. It is an internationally recognized standard for recording renewable energy consumption.

One I-REC guarantees the origin of one megawatt-hour of green electricity injected into the grid.

Through the I-RECs, the power generated by Lishui's small hydropower stations is able to enter the international market, which fully reflects the environmental value of small hydropower as green energy.