Every reporter: Shi Yuxin Every editor: Ma Ziqing
In recent years, with the continuous increase in the installed scale of renewable energy power generation and the proportion of wind power and photovoltaic power generation in mainland China, the power grid's ability to absorb new energy power has been tested, and participating in trading has become an important way for new energy power to achieve consumption.
A few days ago, the Shandong Supervision Office of the National Energy Administration, together with the Shandong Provincial Development and Reform Commission and the Shandong Provincial Energy Bureau, successfully realized the transfer of the Shandong electricity spot market to formal operation in accordance with the requirements of national policies and procedures. It is reported that Shandong is the first batch of pilot projects for the construction of the third electricity spot market after Shanxi and Guangdong last year.
In the context of accelerating the construction of a new power system, various market participants are also undergoing profound changes, and electricity price fluctuations have also become the focus of attention in the industry. The project leader of a new energy company told the "Daily Economic News" reporter that in the short term, after new energy enters the market to participate in the transaction, it may lead to fluctuations in electricity prices and increase the difficulty of evaluating the return on investment, especially for private enterprises that rely on stable yields to obtain loans, the difficulty of financing may increase.
Electricity spot market accelerates "turning positive"
The electricity spot market is a "weather vane" that reflects the supply and demand situation of electricity. On June 17, the Shandong Supervision Office of the National Energy Administration, together with the Shandong Provincial Development and Reform Commission and the Shandong Provincial Energy Bureau, successfully realized the transfer of the Shandong electric power spot market to formal operation in accordance with the requirements of national policies and procedures. Shandong is the first batch of pilot areas for the construction of the third electricity spot market after Shanxi and Guangdong last year.
The reporter of "Daily Economic News" noted that in 2015, the "Implementation Opinions on Promoting the Construction of the Electricity Market" proposed that "qualified areas will gradually establish a market-oriented power balance mechanism based on medium and long-term transactions and supplemented by spot transactions." "In 2017, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration (NEA) jointly selected eight regions, including Shandong, as the first batch of pilot projects for the construction of electricity spot markets. Up to now, the Shanxi, Guangdong and Shandong electricity spot markets have been transferred to formal operation; The spot markets in Gansu and Mengxi have been continuously settled and put into trial operation for more than one year.
According to the data, from January to December 2023, the national electricity market traded 5.7 trillion kWh, a year-on-year increase of 7.9%, accounting for 61.4% of the total electricity consumption of the whole society, an increase of 0.6 percentage points over the previous year. The number of entities registered with trading institutions reached 708,000, and the market vitality was effectively stimulated.
A few days ago, a power expert who did not want to be named told the "Daily Economic News" reporter that from the absolute value of installed capacity, China's installed photovoltaic capacity accounted for more than 50% of the world's total last year, showing that the mainland's new energy has maintained rapid development, but this rapid growth has also brought the challenge of insufficient adaptability of the old and new power systems.
"The challenges and contradictions in the current market are forcing the acceleration of the implementation of relevant reform measures to ensure the healthy development of the new energy industry and the realization of the goal of carbon neutrality." The above-mentioned power experts told reporters that although there is fierce competition in the short term, this is also the embodiment of the competitive advantage of the industry, in line with the cyclical law of the market economy.
He pointed out that despite the challenges, the development prospects of the new energy industry are still broad. In the long run, the trend of renewable energy replacing traditional energy remains unchanged, and the market will eventually form an effective mechanism to eliminate speculation and promote the benign development of high concentration.
After the large-scale trading of new energy, the industry pays attention to issues such as risk management of electricity price fluctuations
In March 2024, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) issued the Measures for the Supervision of the Full Guaranteed Purchase of Renewable Energy Electricity, which states that the on-grid electricity of renewable energy power generation projects includes the guaranteed purchase of electricity and the amount of electricity traded in the market. This also means that from April 1 this year, grid companies will no longer have to buy the full amount of on-grid electricity from renewable energy grid-connected power generation projects in their jurisdictions. The grid will no longer be obligated to acquire in full.
The project leader of the above-mentioned new energy company said that market-based power trading may lead to the compression of profit margins, especially when there is an imbalance between supply and demand, and the profitability of new energy construction projects will face challenges, especially for private enterprises that rely on stable yields to obtain loans, financing difficulties may increase. However, in the long run, the introduction of a competition mechanism and the optimization of the electricity price system are of great significance in benefiting the cost of industrial electricity, highlighting the role of energy security, promoting the optimal allocation of resources, and helping to achieve the "double carbon" goal.
Chen Hao, associate professor of the School of Applied Economics of Chinese University, said in an interview with the WeChat of the "Daily Economic News" reporter that on the one hand, at present, the quantity of new energy is still affected by the full guaranteed consumption policy, and some existing projects also enjoy price subsidies.
On the other hand, the current market system is mostly aimed at the power system dominated by fossil energy units, and the large-scale access of new energy will have an impact on the original market system. Globally, the market system suitable for large-scale new energy access is still being explored and is not yet mature. For example, how to reasonably share the cost of new energy consumption through the market mechanism, the realization of the market mechanism of multiple values of new energy, the recovery of unit costs caused by negative electricity prices, and the risk management of electricity price fluctuations caused by the volatility of new energy.
In view of the above problems, Chen Hao suggested that, on the one hand, the spot market needs to establish a price mechanism that fairly bears the cost of system consumption, considers the deviation and fluctuation responsibility between new energy and other entities, and improves the system cost guidance mechanism in the spot market in accordance with the principle of "who benefits, who bears", and promotes the fair and reasonable bearing of relevant costs by market entities such as conventional power supply, new energy power generation, and power users; On the other hand, the establishment of a spot market mechanism that can realize the diversified value of new energy, in order to ensure the reasonable income of new energy after participating in the market, accelerate the improvement of the market mutual recognition system between the green electricity market and the green certificate market.
How to achieve the security of power supply in the market environment? Chen Hao said that on the one hand, from the perspective of the power system itself, we can start from both the supply and demand side, develop trading products that enhance the flexibility and security of the power system, and improve the market mechanism, such as demand side response products, interruptible load product design, production side frequency modulation and standby product design; On the other hand, from the perspective of linkage and coordination between the power system and other systems, for example, strengthen the joint power safety product design of the power system to the climate system, make full use of big data and artificial intelligence technology, develop the design of climate insurance products that support power security, and improve the operational safety level of the power system.
The project leader of the above-mentioned new energy company said that power generation companies need to study more market-oriented needs and provide products that the market needs.
National Business Daily