"Selling electricity across the wall" will break the ice. The standard of network fee is the key to promotion

In the near future, units and individuals who generate their own electricity can sell their unused electricity not only to the power grid, but also to their neighbors or nearby unit users. Recently, the Jiangsu Provincial Development and Reform Commission and the Jiangsu Supervision Office of the National Energy Administration jointly issued the "Notice on Actively Promoting the Pilot Work of Distributed Generation Market-based Trading" (click here for details) (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice") (Su Fa Gai Neng Yuan Fa [2020] No. 198), which officially identified seven pilot projects. The document is not long, but the signal it sends is worthy of attention from industry insiders. In terms of "selling electricity across the wall", Jiangsu is at the forefront of the country.

Seven places in Jiangsu implement market-based trading of distributed power generation

Previously, in December 2019, the Jiangsu Energy Regulatory Office and the Jiangsu Development and Reform Commission formulated and issued the "Jiangsu Province Distributed Generation Market Trading Rules (Trial)". At the end of March 2020, the Jiangsu Development and Reform Commission and the Jiangsu Regulatory Office of the National Energy Administration jointly issued the "Notice on Actively Promoting the Pilot of Distributed Generation Market Trading", which officially clarified the scope, scale and capacity of the distributed market trading pilot.

The "Notice" pointed out that the scope of this pilot project includes seven areas, namely Suzhou Industrial Park, Changzhou Tianning Zhenglu Industrial Park, Yancheng Textile Industrial Zone, Haimen Yudong Town, Jiangyin City, Jiangyan Economic and Technological Development Zone, and Xinghua City. The transaction scale of Suzhou and Haimen is 50MW, and the remaining points shall not exceed 50MW.

The "Notice" requires that the pilot program only targets newly built wind power or photovoltaic projects, and that the access voltage level of a single unit below 35 kV shall not exceed 20MW (not exceeding 20MW after deducting its own maximum power load), and the access level of projects within 20 to 50MW shall not exceed 110 kV.

The "Notice" clearly states that all market entities participating in the market-based transactions of distributed power generation should sign a three-party market-based transaction contract with the power grid companies responsible for transmission services in accordance with the contract model text formulated by the Jiangsu Energy Regulatory Office, and stipulate the transaction period, monthly plan, settlement method, settlement electricity price, "grid access fee" standards and liability for breach of contract, etc.

Industry insiders pointed out that the difficulty in promoting the market-based trading of distributed power generation was the lack of detailed implementation rules and insufficient basis for specific operating methods. This provincial document was first issued by Jiangsu, which, as a major power market province in China, plays a leading and exemplary role in the country.

What is the market-based transaction of distributed power generation? And how to understand "selling electricity across the wall"?

Market-based transactions of distributed power generation refer to electricity transactions between distributed power generation project units (including individuals, hereinafter the same) within the same trading area and nearby power users in the distribution network, which is commonly known as "selling electricity across the wall".

"For example, we can generate photovoltaic power on the roof. In the past, the excess electricity could not be sold to other users, but now we can sell it to surrounding users. Surrounding users can use our electricity nearby, so there is no need for long-distance transmission through a large power grid, which can reduce a lot of losses and improve the overall energy utilization efficiency." A relevant person in charge of the Jiangsu Provincial Energy Bureau said that the market-based transaction of distributed power generation can not only realize the completion of energy production and consumption nearby, and has the advantages of high energy utilization rate and low pollution emissions, but also represents a new direction and new form of energy development. It will greatly promote Jiangsu to accelerate the construction of a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient modern energy system and promote energy structure adjustment and industrial transformation and upgrading.

Ziniu News reporters also learned from the Jiangsu Provincial Energy Bureau that once the pilot is successful, it will be promoted and used on a large scale throughout the province in the future, providing a broader space for the development of new energy, especially renewable energy.

As a major manufacturing province, "wall-to-wall electricity sales" has activated millions of "rooftop resources", which will open up a broad market for the development of distributed energy such as distributed photovoltaics and distributed wind power. So when the news came out, relevant practitioners also paid close attention to it and gave it high praise.

The grid access fee standard is the key to the market-oriented transaction of distributed power generation

The reporter learned that as early as October 2017, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Energy Bureau issued the "Notice on Launching a Pilot Program for Market-Based Transactions of Distributed Power Generation". Although the policy has broken down the wall of "selling electricity across the wall", "crossing" this "wall" still requires the reform of the power system to provide a "ladder" to "climb". Therefore, it has been nearly three years since then, and pilot projects in many parts of the country have been delayed, which shows how great the resistance is.

In the market-based trading of distributed power generation, the power grid is responsible for power transmission and distribution, and cooperates in organizing market-based trading, charging "grid access fees" according to the standards approved by the government. The grid access fee standard is the key to the smooth implementation of the pilot project of market-based trading of distributed power generation.

In this context, mutual concessions between distributed power generation project units and power grids are a win-win solution. The reporter learned that the Jiangsu Provincial Development and Reform Commission did a lot of coordination and service work in the early stage, allowing Jiangsu Province's distributed power generation market trading pilot to take the first experimental step in the country.

The development history of “wall-to-wall electricity sales”

"Selling electricity across the wall" allows energy consumers to become "production-investment consumers", granting them the right to participate in sustainable development, stimulating their enthusiasm for saving energy resources and reducing pollution emissions, creating an atmosphere for energy companies to innovate in technology, equipment and models, and promoting the strategic transformation of power grid companies to platform-based services.

How was the idea of ​​selling electricity through walls proposed? What was the process of its development and implementation?

On March 8, 2017, the General Office of the National Energy Administration issued a letter soliciting opinions on the "Notice on Launching a Pilot Program for Market-based Trading of Distributed Generation", proposing that distributed energy should be traded in the distribution network. The document stipulates that distributed generation project units including photovoltaic power generation, wind power, natural gas combined heat and power, biogas and other biomass power generation, waste heat, waste pressure and waste gas power generation and small hydropower should trade electricity with nearby power users in the distribution network; power grid companies should be responsible for the public services of power transmission and organizing power trading of distributed generation, and charge power transmission and distribution fees (network fees) according to the standards approved by the government.

On May 5 of the same year, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Energy Bureau issued the "List of New Energy Microgrid Demonstration Projects", allowing the investment and operation entities of new energy microgrid demonstration projects to be responsible for power supply, cooling and other energy services for users within the scope of the new energy microgrid, with the price determined by negotiation between the buyer and the seller.

In November of the same year, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration jointly issued the "Notice on the Pilot of Distributed Generation Market Trading", pointing out that "distributed generation uses clean energy resources nearby, and energy production and consumption are completed nearby. It has the advantages of high energy utilization and low pollution emissions, and represents a new direction and new form of energy development." And proposed three specific models:

1. Distributed power generation projects conduct direct power transactions with power users and pay "grid access fees" to power grid companies;

2. Entrust the power grid company to sell electricity on behalf of the project. The amount of electricity sold on behalf of the project is calculated based on the comprehensive electricity sales price. After deducting the "grid access fee" (including grid loss electricity), the remaining electricity sales income will be transferred to the distributed power generation project unit;

3. Grid companies purchase electricity according to the benchmark on-grid electricity prices for various types of power generation approved by the state.

On December 28, 2017, the General Office of the National Development and Reform Commission and the General Department of the National Energy Administration issued the "Supplementary Notice on the Pilot of Distributed Generation Market Trading", further clarifying the relevant matters of the distributed generation market trading pilot. On April 3, 2018, the National Energy Administration issued the "Interim Management Measures for the Development and Construction of Distributed Wind Power Projects", allowing distributed wind power projects to sell directly to nearby power users in the distribution network. The National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration regard the distributed energy wall-to-wall electricity sales as an important breakthrough in implementing the energy revolution, promoting power reform, developing renewable energy and applying new energy technologies.