Key points for the construction of power system regulation capacity have been determined.

On January 6th, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration issued a notice on the release of the "Special Action Plan for Optimizing the Regulation Capacity of the Power System (2025-2027)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Action Plan"). The Action Plan sets out key tasks in three areas: formulating regulation capacity construction plans, improving the utilization methods of regulation resources, and perfecting the market mechanisms for regulation resources to participate. It clearly states that by 2027, the regulation capacity of the power system will be significantly enhanced, the market environment and business models for the development of various regulation resources will be more complete, and the regulation resource utilization mechanisms will be further improved. Through the construction and optimization of regulation capacity, it will support the reasonable consumption and utilization of over 200 million kilowatts of new energy added annually from 2025 to 2027, with the national utilization rate of new energy not falling below 90%. 

In recent years, the construction of flexible regulation capacity in China's power system has been continuously strengthened. As of the end of the third quarter of 2024, the national flexible regulation coal power capacity exceeded 600 million kilowatts, the cross-provincial power resource allocation capacity exceeded 300 million kilowatts, the cumulative scale of pumped storage reached 55.91 million kilowatts, and the installed capacity of new energy storage reached 58.52 million kilowatts with a storage capacity of 128 million kilowatt-hours. "At present, the development of regulation resources in China also faces some challenges and problems," said a responsible person from the National Energy Administration. China's annual average new installed capacity of new energy has exceeded 200 million kilowatts, and it is expected to maintain a rapid growth trend during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, significantly increasing the pressure on system consumption. From January to October this year, the utilization rate of wind power across the country was 96.4%, a decrease of 0.7 percentage points year-on-year; the utilization rate of photovoltaic power was 97.1%, a decrease of 1.2 percentage points year-on-year. The pressure of consumption in some provinces with rapid development of new energy has become prominent. Moreover, the construction of regulation capacity lacks overall optimization, and the existing regulation resources have not been fully utilized. The price and market mechanisms need to be improved. It is urgent to scientifically plan and build regulation resources and strengthen the connection between the scale and layout of regulation capacity and the development of new energy. Strengthening the planning of regulation capacity is an important prerequisite for guiding the construction of regulation capacity. The "Implementation Plan" emphasizes that all regions should, in light of their actual conditions, systematically formulate plans for the construction of regulation capacity and scientifically determine the scale and layout of regulation capacity. Specific measures include building a number of high-quality pumped storage power stations that are eco-friendly and have mature conditions, giving full play to the multiple roles of pumped storage in peak shaving and valley filling, and enhancing the system's support and regulation capacity. Transform or build a number of new energy storage power stations under the unified dispatch of dispatching institutions. Vigorously support the construction of leading reservoir power stations in river basins and actively promote the flexibility improvement and expansion of hydropower in river basins to enhance the overall regulation capacity of river basins. Actively plan the construction of system-friendly new energy power stations to fully leverage the active regulation capacity of new energy. Build concentrating solar power stations based on local conditions and encourage biomass power generation to play a regulatory role. In response to the current problem of relatively single utilization methods of some regulation resources, the "Implementation Plan" proposes to innovate and enrich the utilization methods of new energy and new energy storage from the perspective of promoting the effective play of equipment regulation capacity. For example, during periods when new energy consumption is difficult, new energy storage should be prioritized for dispatch to achieve full utilization within the day. Explore the integrated dispatch of large-scale wind and photovoltaic bases in sandy and desert areas and water, wind and photovoltaic bases. A scientific and reasonable market mechanism is an important guarantee for promoting the effective play of various regulation resources, achieving large-scale optimal allocation of regulation resources, and promoting the consumption of new energy. The "Implementation Plan" emphasizes the improvement of peak and off-peak electricity price mechanisms. In regions with electricity spot market operations, reasonable peak and off-peak price differences should be formed through market competition. In regions that have not yet achieved spot market operations, the peak and off-peak time-of-use electricity price policies should be further improved to enhance the economic incentive level of peak and off-peak price differences. The "Implementation Plan" proposes to encourage regions to set up auxiliary service varieties such as backup ramping and rotational inertia based on local conditions, establish a market mechanism oriented towards regulation effects, improve regional-level auxiliary service markets, and encourage the establishment of cross-provincial dispatch and trading mechanisms for load-side adjustable resources within the region. The "Implementation Plan" clearly states that a market-oriented capacity compensation mechanism should be established as soon as possible, determine capacity demand and capacity value based on the market, and guide various resources to provide medium and long-term stable capacity to the system. The above-mentioned responsible person said that in the future, they will actively promote pilot applications of new technologies to enhance the regulation capacity of the power system and give priority consideration to the evaluation of the construction effectiveness of the new power system in the future.