Zeng Ming: Energy Internet is the key to distributed power generation market transactions

China Energy Storage Network News: Recently, after the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration issued a notice on launching a pilot program for market-based transactions of distributed power generation, a reporter from China Electric Power News Network interviewed power expert Zeng Ming, a professor at North China Electric Power University, and asked him to talk about his understanding of the document.

Distributed generation market transactions will improve the authenticity of market signals

Reporter: What impact will the distributed generation market trading pilot have on my country's current power market environment?

Zeng Ming: Carrying out distributed power generation market transactions means introducing a market transaction mechanism for distributed power generation and building a new transaction platform. This is an important measure to promote the improvement of my country's electricity market mechanism.

As a new way of power generation, distributed power generation will become larger and larger in scale, and this amount of electricity also needs a market to consume it. It is obvious that in the future, my country will have two markets: centralized power generation and distributed power generation, which will inevitably improve and promote the existing power market.

According to international experience, after a period of operation, the roles of mutual coordination and mutual promotion between the two markets will gradually become more prominent, the real market signals will be greatly improved, and the degree of distortion will be greatly reduced. It can be said that this is a good thing that benefits the country and the people.

Distributed power generation transactions require support from energy internet technology

Reporter: What do you think is the key to launching a pilot project on distributed generation market transactions?

Zeng Ming: To grasp the key to launching a pilot distributed power generation market transaction, we need to clearly understand the difference between distributed power generation and centralized power generation, and what this market needs.

Centralized power generation is an energy system of large units, large power grids and ultra-high voltage formed under the law of "scale efficiency". It has the characteristics of large-capacity, high-parameter unit power generation, ultra-high voltage, long-distance power transmission, unit interconnection and large power grid power supply.

Distributed power generation is an energy system that uses clean energy, biomass, new energy, renewable energy, etc. as primary energy, integrates power generation and heating equipment of different sizes, and arranges them near users in a decentralized manner. It is equivalent to a multifunctional small power station that can independently output heat, electricity and other energy. It is not the simple process of using coal to generate electricity, passing through the power grid, multiple voltage transformations, and then using electricity for lighting or heating. Instead, it is a multi-energy supply method that uses local materials, provides multiple supplies with one fuel, fully utilizes, and protects the environment. It is completely different from the idea of ​​centralized power supply.

This system is more complex because it requires cooperation from multiple parties, including users, power plants, gas companies, governments, and even fire departments. At this time, a platform is needed to link all the points together, and this platform is the energy Internet, or energy Internet technology.

In addition, the electricity sales side should be liberalized, transactions should be equal, and corresponding supporting policies should be formulated to promote distributed power generation to move towards clean energy, with emphasis on demand-side response resources to jointly participate in transactions.

Reporter: Why is this platform the Energy Internet?

Zeng Ming: Because the development of distributed power generation market transactions needs to follow the basic principles of information equality, sharing, transparency, and decentralized transactions, and the energy Internet has these key elements: flatness, decentralization, sharing, and information symmetry, then the support of energy Internet technology is crucial. It should be emphasized that in recent years, a new type of information system technology has developed rapidly in our country, commonly known as "blockchain technology". It is a special database structure. Because it has the characteristics of decentralization and dispersion, it will be very effective if applied to distributed power generation market transactions.

The distributed generation market trading pilot has a long way to go

Reporter: What difficulties do you think my country will face in carrying out pilot work on distributed power generation market transactions? How to overcome these difficulties?

Zeng Ming: I think the most important difficulty we face is whether the energy internet technology, or blockchain technology, can be used, because distributed power generation transactions are different from centralized power generation market transactions on the demand side. Transactions can be completed through negotiation between buyers and sellers on both sides through a trading center. From international experience, distributed power generation is not suitable for the establishment of a centralized and unified trading institution for management, so the possibility of establishing a trading center is very small. Therefore, we must use energy internet technology to support distributed power generation. This problem must be solved.

my country has a long way to go in launching pilot projects for distributed power generation market transactions. I believe the pilot period will not be short, because there are many forms of distributed power generation on the demand side in my country, and the situations in different regions are also very different. As mentioned earlier, the distributed power generation energy system is more complex. Transactions not only involve electricity itself, but also comprehensive energy. In addition to electricity, users are also using other energy sources, and distributed power generation and other distributed production capacities need to be interchangeable and complementary. These resources must enter the market for transactions. It can be said that the distributed power generation market will be a special existence. For this market, we are currently very inexperienced and need continuous pilot projects and continuous summarization of experience to truly achieve promotion.