What signal does CATL send when it sets up a carbon asset management company?

The carbon asset management market has welcomed another heavyweight new player.

On February 5, Aiqicha showed that Times Carbon Asset Management (Ningde) Co., Ltd. was registered and established on February 2. The company is wholly owned by Times Green Energy Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Times Green Energy"), which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CATL.

According to public information, Times Green Energy focuses on the investment, construction and operation of new energy wind, solar and storage, green power trading, carbon neutrality consulting and other fields to help enterprises transform to zero-carbon green.

In short, Times Green Energy aims to help companies (first and foremost CATL) reduce carbon emissions through a series of initiatives. The establishment of a special carbon asset management company, Times Carbon Assets, is a supplement and improvement to the matrix of carbon reduction tools.

The so-called carbon assets, the industry standard of "carbon financial products" issued by the China Securities Regulatory Commission defines them as: new types of assets generated by the carbon emission trading mechanism. Various carbon emission allowances issued by the government and carbon emission reduction projects that may obtain carbon credits are all in the category of carbon assets.

With the promotion of the dual carbon strategy and the restart of the CCER market, more and more large enterprises have established carbon asset management companies. State-owned enterprises represented by the State Power Investment Corporation and Zheneng Group, and high-carbon emission enterprises represented by HBIS Group have all been established.

A senior carbon circle person introduced,Enterprises with large carbon emissions and a large number of carbon assets to develop or purchase carbon assets will involve a large amount of capital, so it is necessary to standardize, systematize and refine the management of carbon assets.

Taking CATL as an example, the ESG report shows that its Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions reached 3.24 million tons in 2022. For example, according to the requirements of the SBTi, carbon emissions will be reduced by at least 90% in the future, and the remaining 10% will be offset by purchasing carbon sinks to achieve carbon neutrality in operations, and the amount of carbon sink purchases involved every year is also a lot of money.

In this regard, some industry experts pointed out that carbon asset management is rich in connotation, and it is not as simple as buying and selling. Instead, it combines the current status of its own carbon assets, actively reduces emissions and reduces performance costs, makes full use of financial instruments, and optimizes resource allocation.

At present, the mainstream carbon asset management companies in the market are mainly third-party institutions, while the carbon asset management companies established by themselves like the State Power Investment Corporation and Zhejiang Energy Group are more mainly based on serving the group itself.

Back in the CATL era,The establishment of a carbon asset management company is first and foremost to serve itself。 Although CATL does not belong to the eight major emission control industries, it is facing carbon reduction pressure brought about by the EU's new battery law.

CATL announced in April 2023 that it plans to achieve carbon neutrality in its core operations by 2025 and its value chain by 2035. This means that it will face a daunting task of carbon reduction in the next two years.

It is reported that Times Green Energy has 54 subsidiaries, many of which have participated in the development of offshore wind power, so as to ensure its own green power supply, which is one of the important ways for CATL to reduce carbon emissions.

Limited by the current level of carbon reduction technology, CATL has to offset the remaining carbon emissions that cannot be eliminated by purchasing carbon credits. The establishment of a special carbon asset management company will help it to maintain and increase the value of carbon assets while revitalizing carbon assets.

In addition, a number of senior people in the carbon circle agreed that CATL's establishment of a carbon asset management company is very likely to be eyeing the business of carbon asset management. "(Times Carbon Assets) should be an independent business segment, and CATL should have a lot of customer resources with carbon asset management needs. ” 

in other wordsTimes Carbon Assets not only serves CATL itself, but is also likely to serve third-party customers.

In 2024, China's carbon market will accelerate its upgrading and expansion, and with the official restart of CCER in January after nearly seven years, the overall scale of the carbon market is expanding, and the participation and activity of the carbon trading market are also continuing to increase. This provides a more fertile soil and development opportunities for the carbon asset management track.

With the expansion and activity of the carbon market, more and more players have entered the carbon asset management track. According to Aiqicha, there are more than 4,800 carbon asset management-related enterprises in China. More than 1,100 new carbon asset management companies will be established in 2023.

Some players have mined "real gold" from the carbon asset management business. Yingda Carbon Asset is a carbon asset management company under the State Grid Corporation of China, established in 2013. According to the financial report, in 2022, Yingda Carbon Assets will achieve an operating income of 48.4 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 87.78%, and a net profit of 8.3434 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 283.29%.

The above-mentioned senior carbon circle person said that carbon asset management companies are data-driven companies, and leading financial technology and Internet companies have advantages in data and big data technology.

As far as CATL is concerned, "although it does not belong to the eight major energy-consuming industries,However, it is the earliest industrial party in the market to carry out carbon trading, and has certain experience advantages.Backed by the resources of large enterprises, it may become a new force that cannot be ignored in the carbon asset management market."