China’s Energy Law issued in November emphasizes the role of governance in supporting power sector transition. To promote the implementation of this provision, NRDC and the China Energy Research Society (CERS) held the 2024 year-end Power Sector Roundtable (PSR) on December 24 with the theme of improving energy governance to accelerate the construction of a new power system. 

Participating experts agreed that energy governance is urgently needed to activate emerging and diverse stakeholders and accommodate new business models where both renewable energy generators and demand side service providers play a key role in supporting power system operations. The experts called for improving the power system assessment mechanism by shifting the focus on emphasizing reliability and profitability to mobilizing power grid resources and new stakeholders. The experts also agreed that electricity price reform is particularly important amongst power sector reform priorities, including establishing a time-of-use electricity price mechanism that reflects supply and demand. The experts’ insights were covered by China Energy News. 

Launched by NRDC and CERS in 2018, the PSR mechanism has effectively engaged influential industry stakeholders in consensus development around key power sector transition issues. The PSR also promoted local dialogues in Fujian and provinces in Northwest China to support local power sector transition.