The Department of General Affairs of the National Energy Administration ("NEA") has recently issued the Circular on Improving the Working Mechanism for the Pilot Program on Building the Power Spot Market (the "Circular").
The Circular clarifies matters in four aspects, including "developing the coordinated communication mechanism" and "advancing the pilot program faster". Among others, the Circular states that, power trading agencies and power scheduling agencies shall fulfill their subject responsibilities of system construction, and adequate support in respect of human resources, funds and materials shall be given to power grid enterprises. In principle, the pilot regions shall commence the pilot simulation operation of the power spot market by the end of June 2019. Meanwhile, the Circular requires that, regions participating in the pilot program on building the power spot market shall, on a monthly basis, report to relevant departments the information related to the building of the power spot market, including but not limited to: 1. information on the preparation of a plan for the pilot program on the power spot market and of the operating rules, information on the development progress of technical support systems, information on the formulation of regulatory measures for the spot market, and situations about the simulation operation of the spot market; 2. problems found and solutions thereto; 3. relevant comments and suggestions.