山西电力市场建设渐入佳境

Core Insights - Shanxi province is transforming its electricity market with significant advancements in long-term, spot, and ancillary service trading, leading to a more structured electricity market with 22,000 registered market participants [1] Group 1: Market Development - The introduction of time-segmented long-term trading in July 2021 allows for 24 distinct pricing periods each day, enhancing price discovery and encouraging better supply-demand balance [2] - The establishment of a spot market has revealed discrepancies in pricing, such as solar power prices dropping from 0.33 yuan per kWh in long-term contracts to below 0.2 yuan in the spot market, demonstrating the coupling of long-term and spot market prices [3] - Shanxi has initiated multi-month long-term trading, extending transactions up to six months ahead, which provides more opportunities for market participants to hedge risks and discover future electricity prices [3] Group 2: Renewable Energy Integration - Shanxi's wind and solar resources are projected to support over 150 million kW of installed renewable capacity by 2030, with annual renewable electricity generation exceeding 200 billion kWh [4] - The province's market mechanisms allow for flexible adjustments in thermal power generation to accommodate the variable nature of renewable energy, maintaining a high utilization rate of over 97% for renewables [4] - The introduction of market-driven mechanisms for thermal power to support renewable energy generation has improved the overall efficiency of energy consumption [4] Group 3: Market Mechanisms and Innovations - Shanxi plans to implement a real-time market with a 5-minute rolling clearing mechanism to enhance the granularity of market tracking and reduce frequency deviation [5] - The entry of virtual power plants into the market has aggregated 191 users with a total adjustable capacity of 312.28 MW, demonstrating the potential for improved resource utilization and flexibility in the power system [7] - Independent energy storage systems are being integrated into the frequency regulation market, providing rapid response capabilities that enhance grid stability and operational safety [8]