A Shanghai-based carbon trading firm owned by the State Grid Corporation on Thursday bought almost 400,000 CCERs from a hydro project in Sichuan, the biggest transaction in China’s offset market to date, the Beijing carbon exchange announced.

Shanghai Zhixin Carbon Asset Management bought 378,000 CCERs from Aba Hydropower Development Co., the Beijing Environment Exchange said in a release.

The transaction price was not disclosed.

The offsets were earned for emission reductions generated in the 2008-2010 period, meaning they are ineligible for use in the Beijing market, where the trade went through, and in the Shanghai market, where the buyer is based.

But they might be sold on to emitters in Hubei, Shenzhen or Tianjin, where local governments are yet to place restrictions on which types of CCERs can be used for compliance.

One trader not involved in the deal told Carbon Pulse that CCERs from restricted project types typically fetch less than 10 yuan ($1.60), while so-called category 1 offsets, with no limitations attached to them, trade in the 18-25 yuan range in most of the pilot markets.

On Monday, the first spot deal in the CCER market was recorded, when Shanghai’s Treasure Carbon bought 200,000 CCERs from state-owned power company Longyuan on the Guangzhou carbon exchange.

By Stian Reklev – stian@carbon-pulse.com