ESG + Photovoltaic Industry = A Winning Combination!

National Policy Sets the Tone, "Zero-Carbon Parks" Gain Popularity! Photovoltaics to See New Opportunities...

From the first mention of the concept of "zero-carbon parks" at the Central Economic Work Conference in December 2024, to its re-emphasis in the 2025 Government Work Report: establishing a number of zero-carbon parks and zero-carbon factories. Like a stone thrown into a lake, the ripples of national strategic level have quickly spread into a nationwide practical boom.

Especially since this year: Sichuan Aims to build a number of zero-carbon industrial parks across the province by 2027; Wuxi, Jiangsu Launched the "Three-Year Action Plan for Zero-Carbon Park Construction," aiming to build more than ten zero-carbon parks within three years; Hunan Simultaneously launched two plans, aiming to build around 10 provincial-level zero-carbon parks and strive for national-level zero-carbon parks by 2027; Shandong Is currently drafting a construction plan for zero-carbon parks. After the official release of the plan, it is planned to select around 15 parks across the province for pilot projects, with a principle of no more than one park per city, to promote the construction of zero-carbon parks in Shandong on a broader scale...

The synergy between the central government and local governments has made "zero-carbon parks" a hot topic.

Recently listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, CATL also stated that it is exploring integrated zero-carbon solutions, cooperating with multiple parties to build zero-carbon islands, co-build zero-carbon industrial parks, and create whole-region zero-carbon demonstration cities.

These actions indicate that the zero-carbon park sector is currently very hot, driven by the "dual carbon" goals. The large-scale application of technologies such as photovoltaics and energy storage is the strongest driving force and the most concrete manifestation of this wave.

Installing Photovoltaic Power Plants ≠ Zero-Carbon Factories

First, we need to understand what a "zero-carbon park" is?

Zero-carbon park refers to a park that, within a certain period (usually one year), reduces, offsets, or removes carbon emissions through clean technology support and carbon capture, ultimately achieving "zero" total carbon emissions within the accounting period.

Image source: China Energy Construction

Zero-carbon factory is more specific than a zero-carbon park, referring to a factory where greenhouse gas emissions generated directly or indirectly during production and operation are calculated as carbon dioxide equivalents and reach a net-zero state. A misconception is that installing photovoltaic power plants makes a factory zero-carbon. In reality, zero-carbon factories need to integrate more complex systems, such as carbon management and process optimization, and achieve deep decarbonization through the coupling of multiple technologies.

In April this year, the Jiangsu Provincial Development and Reform Commission issued an announcement soliciting opinions on the "Draft Guidelines for the Construction of Zero-Carbon Parks." It pointed out that parks should develop and utilize distributed renewable energy, fully utilize in-situ resources to build distributed photovoltaics, and develop decentralized wind power according to planning and layout to increase the proportion of green electricity.

Photovoltaics + Zero-Carbon Parks

The core of zero-carbon parks is to build an energy system based primarily on renewable energy, and photovoltaic technology, with its clean and flexible characteristics, has become a core choice. Specific project examples are as follows:

· The zero-carbon park built by Hubei Energy Group—the Han-Europe International Logistics Park—installed tens of thousands of photovoltaic panels on five large warehouses, contributing about 7 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, mainly for on-site power supply within the park, with surplus electricity fed into the grid as green electricity. It saves 2111.2 tons of standard coal annually and reduces carbon dioxide emissions by about 5747 tons, equivalent to planting 300,000 trees.

· Jiangdao Zhilf Cube Zero-Carbon Park project, Jiangsu Province's first and Nanjing's first zero-carbon park, completed its upgrade and optimization at the beginning of this year. In this upgrade and optimization, a 1MW distributed photovoltaic power station was installed on the building roof, with a total of 1575 photovoltaic modules and 15 inverters, generating about 1 million kWh annually. According to the project manager, "self-generated and self-used photovoltaic power generation can provide about 20% of green energy for the park, reducing CO ₂ emissions by more than 785 tons annually, and carbon emissions by about 14.5%.

· Yunnan Energy Technology Science and Technology Innovation Park is a zero-carbon industrial park integrating cutting-edge green energy, artificial intelligence, and digital technologies. In terms of energy supply, the park relies on high-efficiency photoelectric conversion technology to build an "integrated photovoltaic and storage" energy security system to achieve efficient utilization of clean energy. Through "photovoltaic storage direct flexible technology," it supplies power to DC equipment in the park, achieving 100% on-site consumption of distributed energy.

Image source: Yunnan Daily

In addition, the Photovoltaic Industry Network has observed that many places have included the construction of zero-carbon parks in the 2025 Government Work Report.

For example, Shanghai will promote the construction of green factories and zero-carbon parks; Hebei will focus on pilot cities for carbon peaking and the construction of zero-carbon parks; Fujian will accelerate the construction of a number of zero-carbon parks and support Meizhou Island in striving to become a jointly built "near-zero carbon island" by the Ministry and Province; Jiangsu will build a number of zero-carbon factories and create a number of zero-carbon parks with a demonstration effect; Qinghai will continue to promote the construction of "zero-carbon" service areas, charging facilities, and distributed photovoltaics, building a highway energy replenishment system, and expanding the "transportation + new energy" industrial chain...

According to incomplete statistics, there are currently more than 15,000 parks nationwide, of which more than 2,000 are provincial-level parks and nearly 700 are national-level parks. The total energy consumption of parks has exceeded 40% of the national total energy consumption.

It is worth noting that as a new thing, zero-carbon parks currently face many challenges, such as a lack of advanced technological support and an imperfect standard system.

However, as a core path for industrial transformation under the "dual carbon" goals, zero-carbon parks are entering a fast-track development path with increased policy support and technological breakthroughs. We have reason to believe that the construction of zero-carbon parks will experience explosive growth in 2025. This will undoubtedly bring huge development opportunities for photovoltaics, especially distributed photovoltaics. 。