Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration have jointly issued the Tentative Measures for Prioritized Generation of Power by Renewable Energy Peak-load Units (the "Measures"), with effect as of the date of issuance.
The Measures specify that in order to stabilize the power generation from renewable energy, peak-load units shall increase or decrease the output first, with the peak load regulation capacity in compliance with the relevant requirements of the Administrative Provisions on Grid-connected Operation of Power Generation Plants at least. For conventional coal-fired power generator units with unit capacity of 300,000 KW or less, the output shall be reduced to 50% of the rated capacity or below at least; and for those with unit capacity of more than 300,000 KW, the output shall be reduced to 60% of the rated capacity or below at least. The part of output lower than 60% shall be deemed as the part reduced for peak-load regulation of renewable energy generation. Ordinary regions may implement the downtime peak-load regulation every seven to ten days; whereas in the regions or periods with difficulty in peak-load regulation, the time for downtime peak-load regulation may be extended as the case may be.