The market-oriented reform policy of new energy feed-in tariff has been released

On February 9, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration issued the Notice on Deepening the Market-oriented Reform of New Energy Feed-in Tariffs and Promoting the High-quality Development of New Energy.

The "Notice" pointed out that the promotion of new energy feed-in tariffs is fully formed by the market.

(1) Promote the participation of new energy on-grid electricity in market transactions。 In principle, all on-grid electricity of new energy projects (wind power, solar power generation, the same below) will enter the electricity market, and the feed-in tariff will be formed through market transactions. New energy projects can be quoted to participate in the transaction, and can also accept the price formed by the market.

For the amount of new energy electricity involved in inter-provincial and inter-regional transactions, the feed-in tariff and trading mechanism shall be implemented in accordance with the relevant policies for inter-provincial and inter-regional power transmission。

(2) Improve the spot market transaction and price mechanism. Improve the trading rules of the spot market, promote the fair participation of new energy in the real-time market, and accelerate the realization of voluntary participation in the day-ahead market. The upper limit of the declared price in the spot market shall be determined by taking into account factors such as the current peak electricity price level of industrial and commercial users in various places, and the lower limit of the declared price shall be determined by considering other benefits that can be obtained by new energy outside the electricity market, and shall be formulated and adjusted in a timely manner by the provincial price authority in consultation with relevant departments。

(3) Improve the medium and long-term market transaction and price mechanism. Continuously improve the medium and long-term market trading rules, shorten the trading cycle, increase the frequency of trading, and realize weekly, multi-day, and day-by-day market opening. The supply and demand sides are allowed to reasonably determine the volume, price, curve and other contents of the medium and long-term contracts in combination with the characteristics of new energy output, and flexibly adjust them according to the actual situation. Improve the green electricity trading policy, and the price of electricity and the corresponding green electricity certificate (hereinafter referred to as the green certificate) should be clarified respectively in the declaration and transaction price; Centralized bidding and rolling matching transactions are not separately organized in the province's green power trading。

Encourage new energy power generation enterprises to sign multi-year power purchase agreements with power users, manage market risks in advance, and form a stable supply and demand relationship。 Guide power trading institutions to explore and organize multi-year transactions under the premise of reasonable convergence and controllable risks。

The "Notice" pointed out that a price settlement mechanism should be established to support the sustainable development of new energy. After the new energy participates in the market transaction, a sustainable price settlement mechanism will be established in the settlement process, and the electricity included in the mechanism will be settled according to the electricity price of the mechanism.

At the same time, the "Notice" distinguishes between existing projects and incremental projects, and adheres to classified policies.

For new energy stock projects put into operation before June 1, 2025: (1) The scale of electricity shall be properly connected with the current relevant electricity scale policies of a guaranteed nature by all localities. Within the scope of the scale, new energy projects shall independently determine the proportion of electricity in the implementation mechanism each year, but shall not be higher than the previous year。 Encourage new energy projects to enhance their competitiveness through equipment upgrading and upgrading, and actively participate in market competition. (2) The mechanism electricity price shall be implemented in accordance with the current price policy and shall not be higher than the local benchmark price of coal-fired power。 (3) The implementation period shall be determined in accordance with the current relevant policy guarantee period. CSP projects and offshore wind power projects that have been competitively allocated shall be implemented in accordance with the current policies of each locality。

For new energy incremental projects to be put into operation from June 1, 2025: (1) The scale of new electricity to be included in the mechanism each year shall be determined by each locality according to the completion of the annual non-hydropower renewable electricity consumption responsibility weight issued by the state, as well as factors such as the user's affordability。 If the weight of consumption responsibility is exceeded, the scale of electricity included in the mechanism in the following year can be appropriately reduced; If it is not completed, the scale of electricity included in the mechanism in the following year can be appropriately increased. In the first year after the implementation of the notice, the proportion of new electricity included in the mechanism to the on-grid electricity of new energy in local incremental projects should be appropriately connected with the non-market-oriented proportion of existing new energy prices to avoid excessive fluctuations. The amount of electricity that a single project applies to be included in the mechanism may be appropriately lower than its total power generation. (2) The mechanism electricity price shall be formed by the voluntary participation in bidding of projects that have been put into operation and put into operation in the next 12 months and have not been included in the scope of implementation of the mechanism. During the bidding, the selected projects shall be determined according to the quotation from low to high, and the mechanism electricity price shall be determined according to the highest quotation of the selected project in principle, but shall not be higher than the upper limit of the bidding。 The upper limit of bidding shall be determined by the provincial price authority taking into account factors such as reasonable cost and benefit, green value, supply and demand situation of the electricity market, and user affordability. (3) The implementation period shall be determined according to the average period of recovery of the initial investment of similar projects, the starting time shall be determined according to the commissioning time declared by the project, and the projects that have been put into operation at the time of selection shall be determined according to the selection time.

In addition, the "Notice" makes it clear that to strengthen reform and market coordination, new energy after participating in the market due to quotations and other factors that have not been connected to the grid will not be included in the statistics and assessment of new energy utilization rates. Strengthen the coordination of reform and optimization of the environment, resolutely correct improper interference in the electricity market, shall not unreasonably share costs with new energy, and shall not use the allocation of energy storage as a precondition for the approval, grid connection and grid connection of new new energy projects。 For new energy projects enjoying financial subsidies, the subsidy standards within the reasonable utilization hours of the whole life cycle shall be implemented in accordance with the original provisions.

On the same day, the relevant responsible comrades of the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration answered reporters' questions on deepening the market-oriented reform of new energy feed-in tariffs.

In response to the question "Why should we establish a price settlement mechanism for the sustainable development of new energy?" "It is pointed out that new energy power generation has randomness, volatility and intermittency, especially photovoltaic power generation is concentrated at noon, after fully participating in market transactions, the power supply at noon has increased significantly, the price has been significantly reduced, and there is almost no power generation output during the high evening peak electricity price, and the actual income of new energy may fluctuate greatly, which is not conducive to the sustainable development of new energy. In order to solve this problem, after repeated research, the plan proposes to establish a price settlement mechanism for the sustainable development of new energy while promoting the full participation of new energy in the market, and to compensate for the price difference when the market transaction price is lower than the mechanism electricity price, and deduct the price difference when it is higher than the mechanism electricity price. Through this method of "more refund and less compensation", enterprises can have reasonable and stable expectations, so as to promote the stable and healthy development of the industry and help achieve the "double carbon" goal. From the perspective of foreign conditions, countries with better development of new energy usually adopt similar practices.