Accelerate the development of green finance and support the technological innovation of energy enterprises
The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to accelerate the implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy and accelerate the realization of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-reliance. At present, there are still many bottlenecks in the process of promoting high-quality development in China, especially under the "dual carbon" goal, and the ability of green technology innovation needs to be strengthened urgently. The innovation and development of green technology is inseparable from the financial industry. With the intensification of global climate change and the proposal of the "dual carbon" goal, energy companies have become an important force leading green technology innovation and green industry transformation and upgrading. However, due to the large amount of investment, long cost recovery period, and low risk controllability of energy technology projects, the traditional financial system is difficult to meet the huge capital needs of energy companies, which seriously hinders the process of green technology innovation. Supporting the technological innovation of energy enterprises through the development of green finance is one of the effective ways to accelerate the transformation and upgrading of China's energy structure and achieve the "double carbon" goal.
Green finance and green technology innovation are facing new development requirements
In December 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOMOST) jointly issued the Implementation Plan for Further Improving the Market-Oriented Green Technology Innovation System (2023-2025) (hereinafter referred to as the "Implementation Plan"), which puts forward the following new development requirements for further improving the market-oriented green finance support green technology innovation system.
First, increase financial support for green technologies. Vigorously develop green credit, green bonds, green funds, and green insurance, strengthen equity support for green technology innovation, implement the "science and technology-industry-finance" integration project, and guide all kinds of angel investment, venture capital, and private equity investment to support green technology innovation and achievement transformation.
Second, promote green innovation and synergy. Actively guide green technology innovation enterprises, universities, scientific research institutes and other entities to unite with intermediaries and financial capital, form a "industry-university-research-finance" cooperation mechanism of benefit sharing and risk sharing, promote the research and development of common technologies and the transformation and application of achievements, and finally promote the formation of a green technology innovation work pattern with efficient connection between industry, academia and research and continuous improvement of innovation efficiency.
Overall, the Implementation Plan puts forward new development requirements for green finance and green technology innovation, which is of great significance for promoting the rapid development of green finance and strengthening financial support for green technology innovation.
Green finance supports the technological innovation of energy enterprises through diversified financing tools
Financing constraints are a significant obstacle to technological innovation in the energy sector. Green finance can alleviate the financing constraints of the energy industry by providing diversified financial instruments such as green credit, green bonds, green funds, green insurance, and carbon emission trading, thereby supporting enterprise technological innovation.
On the one hand, green finance can alleviate the financing constraints faced by the energy industry in implementing green technology innovation by providing diversified financing tools such as green credit and green bonds. At present, China's green credit scale ranks first in the world, and the scale of green bond issuance ranks among the top in the world. From 2020 to 2022, green loans to the production and supply of electricity, heat, gas and water showed a year-on-year upward trend, and the balance of green loans in these industries reached 5.62 trillion yuan in the fourth quarter of 2022, accounting for about 25.52% of the total green credit, a year-on-year increase of 27.44%, an increase of 1.8 percentage points over the same period last year. In 2022, the total issuance of green bonds reached 1.26 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 39%, and the net financing amount was 786 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 49%, reaching a historical peak. In March 2023, among the green bonds used for public fundraising, the largest area of funds was invested in clean energy, accounting for 43.44%.
On the other hand, with the continuous increase in the scale of green financial products, green credit and green bonds have become an important means of raising funds for green R&D projects, which provides financing support for innovative R&D investment in the energy industry. For example, the scale of R&D investment in the photovoltaic industry has continued to rise in recent years, from 4.8 billion yuan in 2019 to 20 billion yuan in 2022.
Green finance has an incentive and forcing effect on the technological innovation of energy enterprises
Green finance policies help energy enterprises innovate by optimizing the allocation of financial resources from the supply side. In 2017, China set up green finance reform and innovation pilot zones including Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guizhou and Xinjiang to promote financial institutions to actively guide capital investment through the formulation of green finance transformation plans and other means, and provide different levels of capital supply for different types of energy enterprises, so as to promote the innovation and development of green technology in the energy industry.
Green finance has an incentive effect on the technological innovation of new energy enterprises. Green finance can guide more capital to flow to the new energy industry, alleviate the financing difficulties of new energy enterprises, and encourage new energy enterprises to make more breakthroughs in green technology innovation. As of the end of 2022, the new energy industry represented by wind power and photovoltaic has obtained a total of 1,587 green patents, a year-on-year increase of 34.8%, of which green invention increased by 58.4% year-on-year, and green utility model patents increased by 25.6% year-on-year. The wind power industry showed a significant inflection point in 2021, with a year-on-year increase of 43.6%. From this point of view, under the "double carbon" goal, the development of green finance in China has entered the fast lane since 2020, which has set off a wave of green technology innovation in the new energy industry.
Green finance has a forcing effect on the technological innovation of traditional energy enterprises. Green finance can guide the flow of funds, form a resource competition relationship between traditional energy and new energy industries, force traditional energy companies to increase investment in green technology innovation projects, and promote their gradual green transformation. The number of green patents in the thermal power industry ushered in a significant inflection point in 2021, with the number of green patents rising from 876 to 1,833 in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 109.24%, and Huaneng International, a leading enterprise in the thermal power industry, obtained a total of 954 green patents in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 536%. This shows that the development of green finance in China has a significant reversal effect on the technological innovation of traditional energy industries such as thermal power, with positive externalities, and effectively promotes the coordinated development of "fire + green".
On the whole, green finance can provide support for the technological innovation of energy enterprises in terms of risk diversification and financing through diversified financing channels, form a resource competition relationship between the traditional energy and new energy industries, thereby generating an incentive effect on the technological innovation of new energy enterprises, and a reversal effect on the green technology innovation of traditional energy enterprises, accelerating the green transformation of the energy industry through the optimal allocation of financial resources, and promoting the realization of the "double carbon" goal.
Stronger policy guarantees should be provided for green finance to play its role
First, it is recommended to encourage financial institutions to continue to innovate green financial products and services, and enhance the support of green financial instruments for green technology innovation of energy enterprises. It is recommended to encourage financial institutions to give certain preferential policies in terms of capital adequacy ratio, non-performing loan ratio, credit scale and liquidity, and implement differentiated credit and assessment mechanisms for green projects, and continue to innovate green credit, green bonds, green funds, Green innovation venture capital and other financial products and services, increase financial support, focus on green projects and green enterprises, and according to the actual needs of green projects, targeted short-term and long-term financial instruments, while developing multi-level capital markets and mergers and acquisitions market, improve the exit mechanism of investors in green technology innovation enterprises, so as to gradually deepen the breadth and depth of green finance policies to support the green innovation and development of energy enterprises, and provide more abundant financial resources for the green technology innovation activities of energy enterprises.
Second, it is recommended to build differentiated green finance policies for different types of energy enterprises to better serve green technology innovation. On the one hand, it can provide special financial support for green technology innovation of new energy enterprises. For example, we will set up special funds for green innovation, green innovation venture capital funds, and green entrepreneurship incubators to encourage new energy enterprises to innovate green technology and achieve commercialization, and promote the innovation incentive effect of green finance. On the other hand, it can provide traditional energy enterprises with technological transformation credit for cleaner production, energy conservation and emission reduction and other technological transformation, promote cooperation, mergers and acquisitions or restructuring between traditional energy enterprises and new energy enterprises, promote cross-border integration of technology and business, and achieve the effect of innovation reversal.
Third, it is recommended to establish green financial product standards with Chinese characteristics that are not only in line with international standards but also in line with the development characteristics of China's energy industry, so as to provide strong support for the green technology innovation, transformation and upgrading of energy enterprises. Combined with the characteristics of China's energy industry, we should formulate corresponding green financial product standards and green financial regulatory mechanisms, and use carbon emission trading, green compensation mechanisms, tax incentives, innovation incentives, etc., to guide the gradual green transformation of traditional energy enterprises, and support the green production, technology research and development and transformation of new energy enterprises. At the same time, strengthen international cooperation and exchanges, actively participate in the formulation of international green finance standards, and improve the level of China's green finance standards in line with international standards.
Author's Affiliation:China Southern Power Grid Energy Development Research Institute Co., Ltd
