China to build a unified national power market by 2029

In November 2024, the NEA led more than 20 units, including the China Electricity Council (CEC), to jointly formulate the Blue Book on the Development Plan of the National Unified Power Market (CHN: 全国统一电力市场发展规划蓝皮书), which proposed for the first time a three-step roadmap for the construction of a unified national power market. The Blue Book proposes that China will initially build a unified national power market by 2025, with basic trading rules and technical standards unified and orderly connection between inter-provincial/regional markets and provincial/regional markets. By 2029, a unified national power market will be fully built, provincial spot power markets will be covered nationwide, and new energy will fully participate in market transactions. By 2035, the unified national power market will be improved, with a full range of trading varieties, free competition among trading entities, and a price mechanism that fully reflects the value of various resources so that a high share of the new energy power market can operate effectively and stably.