Recently, the General Affairs Department of the National Energy Administration issued the "Letter on Matters Concerning the Construction of Photovoltaic Power Generation Projects Without State Subsidies", approving the Hekou District of Dongying City, Shandong Province to carry out market-based transactions for photovoltaic power generation projects that do not require state subsidies.

The "Notice on Matters Related to Photovoltaic Power Generation in 2018" issued on May 31 clearly encourages all localities to introduce policies to support the development of the photovoltaic industry based on their own actual conditions, and arrange various types of projects that do not require state subsidies based on grid connection and consumption conditions and related requirements. Photovoltaic power generation project. More than three months after the policy was released, Dongying City took the lead in testing the waters. Because the application for the Dongying project is "general", the reply from the National Energy Administration clarified that for projects that are not allowed to be subsidized by the state, localities can follow the relevant national renewable energy policies and combine the power market reform to implement land and power grid acceptance conditions. Organize and implement it yourself under the premise.

Why did Dongying become the "vanguard"? Can this subsidy-free photovoltaic project of general significance be constructed and promoted across the country?

Land, electricity price, consumption and other conditions are indispensable

"Actually, we have also had contact with other provinces, but after the whole discussion, we feel that Dongying is the most suitable." Zhang, the person in charge of Zhongzhi (Taixing) Electric Power Technology Co., Ltd. who participated in the construction of this project, told reporters that Dongying's subsidy-free photovoltaic The planned land for the project is unused saline-alkali land and tidal flats, which is suitable for large-scale construction.

"The scale of the first phase of the project is 50MW, and an additional 100MW will be added in the second phase. The current scale approved by the National Energy Administration is 500MW. In terms of planning, it is not just 500MW, but it also requires a gradual advancement process."

In addition, the project site not only has good land conditions, but is also close to some local high-energy-consuming industrial enterprises, and has the basis for close-range consumption. "Moreover, the local industrial electricity price level is relatively high, and the peak-to-valley price difference is also suitable. In our early contacts, we found that although there are large users in Jiangsu, Guangdong and other places, the electricity price level is also good, but the land is limited. And some There is no problem with local land, but the electricity price is too low. Unsubsidized projects must meet various conditions such as land, electricity price, and consumption. Therefore, even though the National Energy Administration has issued corresponding documents and requires provinces to apply for 500MW trials, local conditions are not consistent. Balance is really difficult to promote in many places.”

No need for subsidies does not mean affordable Internet access

Regarding the specific electricity price of the project, Zhang said that the specific electricity price is currently being communicated and negotiated with users, power grids and relevant government departments, and there is also a corresponding price range, which cannot be announced to the public at this stage. "But what is clear is that this is a non-subsidy market-based transaction project on the user side. It is a wall-to-wall electricity sales, not a parity network."

According to Zhang, the project is aimed at local high-energy-consuming users such as petrochemicals and metallurgy. “Both parties negotiate a mutually acceptable price and electricity, and the transaction can be carried out by paying a certain network fee to the power grid within the cost limit. The electricity price is a market-based electricity price, not what is usually called a 'parity' or a benchmark electricity price." Regarding the collection of network fees, Zhang also said that the Shandong Provincial Development and Reform Commission is coordinating with the local power grid to support the project itself. To this end, the reporter communicated with the Shandong Provincial Development and Reform Commission and the Economic and Information Technology Commission by phone several times, but the relevant responsible persons said that there are still many details that need to be coordinated and relevant information cannot be released to the outside world.

"For direct power supply, whether it is thermal power or photovoltaic, the network fee is clearly charged. As a power source, it must bear the balancing cost of the power system." Li Qionghui, director of the New Energy and Statistics Institute of the National Electric Energy Research Institute, said in In the traditional thermal power market, the money is given to whoever assumes the obligation to adjust the balance, and is not collected by the power grid.

According to the reporter’s understanding, in the Northeast’s ancillary service market, there are special accounts, and whoever pays benefits, forming a self-balancing mechanism. "To participate in power market transactions, photovoltaics must also bear balancing obligations and costs. This is not a problem solved by network fees, this part of the cost must also be paid." Li Qionghui said.

On the other hand, Zhang revealed that this subsidy-free project determines the technical route of heterojunction. "The important reason why the project was approved by the National Energy Administration is because it chose high-tech technology such as heterojunction. Moreover, the local government also hopes to use this to become a pilot and demonstration project to help implement new technologies and gradually reduce costs. ”

Promote the gene of captive power plants

Regarding Dongying’s first move, in addition to the favorable external environment, Li Qionghui also has her own opinions. "Dongying has certain special characteristics. If you take a careful inventory of local industrial enterprises, you will find that captive power plants are very common in Dongying. It has always been difficult for photovoltaic projects built in captive power plants to obtain national subsidies. This This is very prominent in Shandong.”

Li Qionghui pointed out that the current state’s electricity price subsidies for photovoltaic power stations are settled through the power grid. However, since self-owned power plants are metered internally, the power grid company does not have control over the operation of photovoltaic projects, so in many cases they do not receive state subsidies at all. “Actually, it’s not that many captive power plants don’t want to receive subsidies, but according to current policies, they won’t be able to get them for a long time. Moreover, the current direction of national power reform is to gradually eliminate captive power plants, so subsidy-free photovoltaic projects also have specific requirements in the local area. genetic."

In addition, Li Qionghui also believes that at present, renewable energy sources such as photovoltaics do not yet have the conditions to completely get rid of policy guarantees and "naked" enter the market. "Globally, no country has completely abolished renewable energy subsidies. Our current electricity price subsidies are to charge renewable energy surcharges and pay them uniformly. Many countries 'smooth' electricity prices to the user side through market mechanisms. In fact, Just change the "explicit subsidy" to "hidden subsidy". my country's electricity users have long purchased electricity through the catalog price, and there is no difference between thermal power and photovoltaic power when purchasing electricity. Therefore, even if the price is matched to the user, it may not be enough. A corresponding system is needed, and this system itself may be subsidy.”