NDRC and National Energy Administration (NEA) jointly published a notice on facilitating electricity spot market pilot projects on April 28, as reported by Caixin on May 10. The document called for the promotion of new energy inclusion in the markets, cross-region electricity transmission projects, and consumer participation in electricity spot market transactions. The notice asked for uninterrupted trading in the first batch of pilots determined in June 2019, including Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shandong, Gansu, and four other provinces. In addition, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Liaoning, Henan, and Hubei were selected as the second batch. The two departments specified that the country would support the trial of a regional electricity spot market in south China, and study the construction plans of regional markets in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region and Yangtze River Delta in the future.

To promote inclusion of renewables, NDRC and NEA allowed new energy projects to participate in the power market with grid companies, users, and power vendors through long-term contracts for difference. 10% of the expected generation capacity of renewable projects can be taken into market transactions, which would not be accounted for in the projects’ generation hours for subsidies. Power industry researchers indicated that this was the first time for renewable energy to be confirmed to participate in spot market transactions at the national level. The electricity spot market floating price could be considered in the accounting of investment income of renewables projects in the future. According to insiders, involving renewable energy projects in power market transactions could ensure a stable income for renewables projects. Chinese regulators are still working to introduce further specific rules, as reported by China Energy News.

Sources:

https://power.in-en.com/html/power-2387745.shtml

http://stock.caijing.com.cn/20210508/4763189.shtml

https://www.caixin.com/2021-05-10/101709346.html