Shaanxi: PV Guaranteed Purchase Reduced to 293 Hours, Full Purchase for Distributed Systems

On December 31, 2024, the Shaanxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission issued the "Notice on the 2025 Priority Power Generation Plan for Power Generation Enterprises in the Shaanxi Power Grid," stipulating that distributed, pioneer, and poverty alleviation PV projects will have their electricity fully purchased, while conventional PV projects will have partial purchases, with all others entering the electricity market for market-based transactions.

According to the document, non-centralized hydropower, distributed new energy, PV pioneer projects, PV poverty alleviation projects, biomass projects, and non-marketized comprehensive utilisation projects will, in principle, have their priority power generation plans fully arranged to ensure electricity supply for residential, agricultural, and line loss electricity consumption. For PV projects, the annual utilization hours are considered at 1,181 hours.

Centralized wind and solar power generation (including parity, low-price, and subsidy-abandoned centralized new energy projects) and centralized hydropower, as marketized units, will have priority power generation plans arranged based on the procurement needs of residential and agricultural electricity consumption within the province, with the remaining portion entering the market for market-based transactions.

According to the 2025 Priority Power Generation Plan Table for Marketized Power Generation Enterprises in the Shaanxi Power Grid, the total scale of conventional PV projects exceeds 17 GW, with guaranteed purchase hours for each project set at 293 hours. It is worth noting that the guaranteed purchase hours for PV in Shaanxi Province were previously around 350 hours, and the priority power generation hours for PV in 2025 will decrease by nearly 60 hours.

Additionally, Shaanxi Province has delineated the market entry for new and existing projects. For the 231 centralized PV projects registered with the Shaanxi Electricity Trading Platform before December 20, 2024, a priority power generation plan of 5.03 billion kWh has been issued. For marketized PV generation units entering commercial operation on or after December 21, 2024, a priority power generation of 450 million kWh has been reserved.

Furthermore, centralized distributed new energy projects have been arranged with priority power generation plans under the principle of full purchase (annual utilization hours for wind power at 1,821 hours and PV at 1,181 hours). For those voluntarily participating in market transactions, priority power generation contracts should first be adjusted through contract transactions, with the reduced portion of the priority power generation contract participating in market-based transactions in equal amounts. The proportion of electricity participating in market-based transactions can be determined independently, but the utilization hours corresponding to the priority power generation contracts held should, in principle, not be lower than those of the same type of centralized marketized units.

Original Text:

Notice of the Shaanxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission on Issuing the 2025 Priority Power Generation Plan for Power Generation Enterprises in the Shaanxi Power Grid

State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power Company, Shaanxi Electricity Trading Center Co., Ltd., and relevant power generation enterprises:

To continuously implement the spirit of the national electricity system reform, further promote the construction of the electricity market, and ensure the safe and stable operation of the Shaanxi Power Grid and the reliable supply of electricity in 2025, our commission has, based on the "Notice on Further Deepening the Marketization Reform of Coal-Fired Power On-Grid Tariffs" (NDRC Pricing [2021] No. 1439) and other documents, comprehensively considered the actual factors such as the installed capacity, grid structure, and operational load of the Shaanxi Power Grid, and formulated the 2025 Priority Power Generation Plan following the work approach of "all coal-fired power on-grid electricity entering the market, and orderly promoting the market entry of hydropower and new energy power on-grid electricity." The relevant matters are hereby notified as follows.

I. Arrangement Principles

(1) Principles for Arranging Priority Power Generation Plans

Under the premise of ensuring the safe and stable operation of the Shaanxi Power Grid, the requirements for clean energy consumption, internal demand and external transmission, planning and market, etc., are comprehensively considered. Based on the forecast of monthly electricity consumption for residents (including schools, social welfare institutions, community service centers, and other public welfare users implementing residential electricity prices, the same hereinafter), agriculture (including line loss electricity, the same hereinafter) in 2025, and the external purchase plan of the Shaanxi Power Grid, the monthly priority power generation plan within the province is determined.

Non-centralized hydropower, distributed new energy, PV pioneer projects, PV poverty alleviation projects, biomass projects, and non-marketized comprehensive utilisation projects will, in principle, have their priority power generation plans fully arranged to ensure electricity supply for residential, agricultural, and line loss electricity consumption. Adjustments will be made based on policy changes to promote the market participation of the above power supplies in due course. For power generation enterprises voluntarily entering the market, priority power generation contracts should be reasonably adjusted through contract transactions.

Centralized wind and solar power generation (including parity, low-price, and subsidy-abandoned centralized new energy projects) and centralized hydropower, as marketized units, will have priority power generation plans arranged based on the procurement needs of residential and agricultural electricity consumption within the province, with the remaining portion entering the market for market-based transactions.

All coal-fired power on-grid electricity will enter the market for market-based transactions, and no priority power generation plans will be arranged.

(2) Price Execution Principles

Priority power generation volumes of power generation units will be executed at government-set prices.

(3) Deviation Handling Mechanism

Deviations in the execution of priority power generation plans caused by electricity consumption forecast deviations, inter-provincial interconnection line deviations, and uncertainties in provincial power generation will be handled according to the relevant rules of the medium and long-term and spot markets.

II. Overall Arrangements

(1) Priority Power Generation Demand Forecast

In 2025, the total electricity consumption of the Shaanxi Power Grid is expected to reach 276 billion kWh, of which residential and agricultural electricity consumption (including line loss electricity) will account for 58.02 billion kWh. Considering the electricity demand for coal-to-electricity heating users of 3.45 billion kWh included in market-based transactions and the inter-provincial and inter-regional external purchase electricity of 6.68 billion kWh, the priority power generation demand for provincial units is 47.89 billion kWh (on-grid electricity, the same hereinafter).

(2) Non-Marketized Unit Power Generation Forecast

The annual power generation of non-centralized hydropower, distributed new energy, PV pioneer projects, PV poverty alleviation projects, biomass projects, non-marketized comprehensive utilisation projects, and new grid-connected units during the commissioning period is forecasted to total 35.9 billion kWh, including: non-centralized hydropower 5.39 billion kWh, distributed wind power 4.01 billion kWh, distributed, pioneer, and poverty alleviation PV 15.09 billion kWh, biomass projects and comprehensive utilisation projects 10.86 billion kWh, and reserved commissioning period electricity for new grid-connected units 550 million kWh. All the above electricity will be used to ensure residential and agricultural electricity consumption. For wind power projects, the annual utilization hours are considered at 1,821 hours, and for PV projects, at 1,181 hours.

(3) Priority Power Generation Plan Arrangement for Marketized Units

After ensuring residential and agricultural electricity consumption with the power generation of non-marketized units and commissioning electricity, there remains 11.99 billion kWh of electricity that needs to be guaranteed by arranging priority power generation plans for marketized units: First, for the 9 hydropower projects, 185 centralized wind power projects (including parity, low-price, and subsidy-abandoned centralized projects), and 231 centralized PV projects (including parity, low-price, and subsidy-abandoned centralized projects) registered with the Shaanxi Electricity Trading Platform before December 20, 2024, priority power generation plans of 1.39 billion kWh, 4.42 billion kWh, and 5.03 billion kWh, respectively, totaling 10.84 billion kWh, have been issued. Second, for marketized wind power and PV generation units entering commercial operation on or after December 21, 2024, priority power generation of 700 million kWh and 450 million kWh, respectively, has been reserved.

According to the relevant provisions of the "Measures for the Entry and Exit of Power Generation Units into Commercial Operation" (National Energy Regulation [2023] No. 48), no priority power generation plans will be arranged during the commissioning period of newly commissioned power generation units. From the time they enter commercial operation, the corresponding utilization hours of the priority power generation plan will be calculated based on the monthly priority power generation plan for the same type of power generation units, serving as the priority power generation plan for the unit. Shaanxi Electricity Trading Center Co., Ltd. should promptly supplement the priority power generation plan contracts for newly commissioned power generation units on the Shaanxi Electricity Trading Platform and report to our commission on a quarterly basis.

III. Relevant Requirements

1. Shaanxi Electricity Trading Center Co., Ltd. must strictly arrange priority power generation plans in accordance with this notice, summarize the various contract information of each power generation enterprise monthly in conjunction with market-based transactions, and prepare and publish monthly trading plans.

2. The Dispatch Center of State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power Company must balance the safe and reliable operation of the power grid with the coal consumption control requirements in the Guanzhong region. Based on the monthly trading plans, it should prepare monthly power generation plans for each power generation enterprise. Following the "Three Publics" dispatching principle, it should coordinate the operation modes of power generation units, implement the results of electricity market transactions in accordance with laws and regulations, and ensure the safe, stable, high-quality, and economical operation of the power grid. Monthly power generation plans should be submitted to our commission for review and approval before execution and the actual execution results should be published at the end of each month, explaining the reasons for any deviations between the actual execution and the trading plans to market entities.

3. Centralized distributed new energy projects have been arranged with priority power generation plans under the principle of full purchase (annual utilization hours for wind power at 1,821 hours and PV at 1,181 hours). For those voluntarily participating in market transactions, priority power generation contracts should first be adjusted through contract transactions, with the reduced portion of the priority power generation contract participating in market-based transactions in equal amounts. The proportion of electricity participating in market-based transactions can be determined independently, but the utilization hours corresponding to the priority power generation contracts held should, in principle, not be lower than those of the same type of centralized marketized units.

4. Public comprehensive utilisation units voluntarily participating in market-based transactions will, in principle, not be arranged with priority power generation plans. From the execution of the first market-based transaction contract, they will be treated as marketized units, implementing unified market rules with coal-fired power generation units, and the arrangement of priority power generation plans will be canceled from the start of the first market-based transaction execution.

5. Based on the 2025 electricity consumption forecast and the execution of priority power generation plans in previous years, it is expected that in certain months, the priority power generation volume may exceed the monthly residential and agricultural electricity demand. During execution, the surplus priority power generation volume beyond the guaranteed residential and agricultural electricity consumption will be distributed to all industrial and commercial users through market-based methods on a monthly and as-needed basis. Specific circumstances will be handled in accordance with the "Notice of the Shaanxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission on Matters Related to Electricity Market-Based Transactions in 2025" (Shaanxi Development and Reform Operation [2024] No. 2056) and relevant trading rules for surplus priority power generation volume subscription transactions.

6. Each power generation enterprise must strengthen production, maintenance, and repair management in accordance with the overall arrangement of the priority power generation plan, strictly comply with dispatching management, and actively participate in power grid peak shaving.

Any major issues arising during execution should be promptly reported to our commission.

Attachment: 1. 2025 Priority Power Generation Plan Table for Marketized Power Generation Enterprises in the Shaanxi Power Grid (On-Grid Electricity)

2. 2025 Priority Power Generation Plan Table for Non-Marketized Power Generation Enterprises in the Shaanxi Power Grid (On-Grid Electricity)

Shaanxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission

December 27, 2024

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