Revolutionizing Green Electricity Certificates: A Real-Time Traceability Framework for Credible Renewable Energy Attribution in China

The global transition towards a clean energy system underscores the critical role of Green Electricity Certificates (GECs), yet their effectiveness is often hampered by an inability to credibly trace environmental attributes from generation to consumption. This study provides a systematic review of technological pathways and policy implications for enhancing GEC markets through real-time electricity-carbon traceability, using China’s large-scale and rapidly evolving market as a central case. Through comparative international analysis and examination of China’s market data (2023–2025), we identified a severe oversupply of certificates and a reliance on policy-driven demand as core structural dilemmas. The aim of this study was to clarify how real-time traceability can fundamentally enhance the credibility, temporal precision, and policy applicability of GEC mechanisms, particularly under China’s rapid institutional reforms. The findings indicate that a fundamental transition towards hourly granularity in certificate issuance and matching is critical to enhance credibility, prevent double-counting, and enable high-value applications like 24/7 clean energy matching. Furthermore, deep integration between the GEC market and the carbon emission trading (CET) scheme is necessary to expand value propositions. We conclude that the synergistic integration of market design (mandatory quotas), cross-market coupling (GEC-carbon market linkage), and robust digital traceability represents the most effective pathway to transform GECs into a credible instrument for driving additional renewable energy consumption and supporting global carbon mitigation goals.