China has approved new plans for the development of regional power markets as part of moves to take power pricing away from the control of State-owned monopolies and deliver cheaper and greener power.
The central government on Tuesday approved five regional reform plans, including a proposal by Beijing to run a regional trading platform that would focus on boosting the supply of renewable power, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said.
A similar trading plan was also approved for Northwest China's Gansu Province, which is one of China's windiest regions but is limited in selling its renewable power elsewhere by insufficient transmission.
Gansu wants to set up a limited trading platform next year, which would be scaled up after 2018 to include all industrial and commercial power users, allowing them to trade through bilateral contracts with licensed power companies.
China wants to cut corporate electricity bills by 165 billion yuan ($24.7 billion) over the next two years, the NDRC said in June.
It has launched pilot wholesale trading programs in nearly 20 provinces since last year to increase market transparency and reduce costs.
The country now has nearly 600 licensed wholesale agents, who broker power trade agreements between suppliers and big industrial buyers, the Economic Information Daily reported on Tuesday.
Easing the grip of the grid companies, however, may prove difficult.
Three of the 27 regional power trading platforms set up so far are by subsidiaries of the State Grid Corp of China, the country's largest grid operator by users, the Economic Information Daily said.
Three provinces - Fujian, Hainan and Heilongjiang - also won approval for plans to set minimum entrance thresholds for power companies and wholesale agents seeking access to wholesale trading programs to ensure the integrity of the market, the NDRC said.
