The Department of General Affairs of the National Energy Administration ("NEA") has recently issued the Circular on Upholding the Spirit of the Reform of "Streamlining Administration, Delegating Powers, Strengthening Regulation and Improving Services" to Optimize Matters Concerning Licensing Administration of Electric Power Business (Draft for Comment) (the "Draft for Comment") for public comments by December 22, 2019.
The Draft for Comment mainly touches upon three aspects as below. The first is streamlining licensing administration of power generation business, part of the efforts to deepen the reform of streamlining administration and delegating powers. The second is keeping a tight rein on licensing access, to follow the requirements for the supply-side structural reform. The third is strengthening in-process and ex-post administration to standardize the licensing administration. Among others, the Draft for Comment calls for efforts to ramp up the regulation of licensing access for wind power projects and photovoltaic power generation projects. In addition, the Draft for Comment stipulates that one of the conditions for applying for an electric power business license, previously stating that "having access to power supply business areas as approved by the competent authority", is revised to read "holding the letter of opinions or agreement on the division of power supply areas"; and the "coverage of power supply business areas" specified on the duplicate of the electric power business license (for power supply) held by power supply enterprises will indicate that "the licensed new power distribution areas are excluded".