# Which grid emission factor should we use for electricity at a supplier's plant in China?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/china-grid-emission-factor-for-suppliers

Use the latest national average grid factor published by China's environment ministry, which has been somewhere between 0.5 and 0.6 kg CO2 per kWh, or a regional factor if your buyer asks for one. It matters for footprints, cement and fertilisers, not for steel or aluminium CBAM figures.

## Where the factor comes from

China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment publishes a national average grid emission factor and updates it as the power mix changes. International databases such as the IEA's also publish country figures; state which one you used and its year.

## When it matters

- Scope 2 and product carbon footprints asked for by buyers.
- CBAM indirect emissions for cement and fertiliser goods.
- Not the charged CBAM figure for iron, steel or aluminium, which counts direct emissions only.

## Regional differences

A plant in a hydro-heavy province draws on a cleaner grid than one in a coal-heavy province. A regional factor can be more accurate, but use it only if it is published and your buyer accepts it.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel, electricity and production documents into dated, fingerprinted plant records, so the monthly intensity behind a figure can be traced to its source.

- [Free grid factors by country](https://senseible.earth/answers/free-grid-emission-factors-by-country)
- [Korea grid factor for suppliers](https://senseible.earth/answers/korea-grid-emission-factor-for-suppliers)
- [Electricity in steel CBAM figures](https://senseible.earth/answers/does-cbam-count-electricity-emissions-steel)

Sources: [GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance](https://ghgprotocol.org/scope-2-guidance), [International Energy Agency](https://www.iea.org), [CBAM Regulation (EU) 2023/956, consolidated](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/956/2025-10-20)

Last reviewed 2026-10-22.