Shandong pushes industries to join market-based electricity trades by 2020

SHANGHAI, Sep 13 (SMM) – From September, Shandong province will advocate market-based electricity trading across coal, steel, nonferrous metals, and building materials, according to a notice by provincial authorities on Friday September 8. Companies in the four sectors to trade electricity through market-based mechanisms instead of a state-set system, by the start of 2020. 

From now till 2020, plants will decide on when they enter the market for electricity trading. They can begin trading electricity after they meet safety amd environmental requirements. Across these four sectors in Shandong, market-based trades of electricity accounted for 53% of overall trades. This equates to 26.64 billion kWh of electricity, according to the notice.

The move is part of the province’s efforts to liberalise its electricity market, as China pushes ahead with cutting prices and boosting efficiency across the electricity sector. Currently, most of the electricity in China is sold by producers at prices set by the grid companies, supervised by the central government.