MK sport Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, at an altitude of more than 5,200 meters on September 12, 2024. This 100-megawatt facility is the world's highest-altitude wind power project currently under construction. The project will be fully completed and operational by late October. It is expected to generate an additional 223 million kilowatt-hours of clean electricity annually. Photo: VCG" src="https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2024/2024-12-15/8aa6f676-b290-480d-97f9-8de104b9bc14.jpeg" />

Wind turbines are installed in Nagqu, Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, at an altitude of more than 5,200 meters on September 12, 2024. Photo: VCG

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration (NEA) have issued a notice on promoting the integration of new energy sources like wind power and solar power into the electricity market, according to a statement from the NDRC on Sunday.

The notice highlighted the need to deepen market-oriented price reforms of new energies, ensuring that electricity prices are determined through competitive market mechanisms.

It calls for the creation of a price settlement mechanism to ensure the sustainable development of new energies, introducing differentiated policies for existing and new projects to support high-quality industry development.

For existing projects, the electricity volume and pricing framework under the mechanism will align with current policies. For new projects, the electricity volume included in the mechanism will be determined by local authorities in accordance with national guidelines, with prices determined through competitive bidding on the market, the notice said.

China's renewable energy generation capacity is expanding rapidly. The latest notice reveals that the government will implement comprehensive measures to maintain the stability of green power, Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

"These measures aim to enhance the market competitiveness of clean energy, as stabilizing the power supply in the renewable energy sector requires extra investment," Lin said. "The core of these policies is to facilitate the gradual marketization of renewable energy and improve market regulations."

In 2024, China's total electricity consumption reached 9.85 trillion kilowatt-hours, a 6.8-percent increase from a year earlier, according to NEA data. Of this total, power consumption by large-scale industries accounted for 9.42 trillion kilowatt-hours.

Meanwhile, as of the end of December 2024, China's total installed power generation capacity had reached 3.35 billion kilowatts, marking a year-on-year increase of 14.6 percent. Solar power generation capacity reached approximately 890 million kilowatts-hours, up 45.2 percent year-on-year, while wind power capacity stood at approximately 520 million kilowatt-hours, an 18-percent increase, according to the NEA.