The Shandong Provincial People's Government issued the "Green Low-Carbon Transformation Action Plan (2024-2025)".

[Policy Information]On May 11, the Shandong Provincial People's Government released the "Action Plan for the 'Ten Major Innovations', 'Ten Strong Industries', and 'Ten Demand Expansions' (2024-2025)". The released "Green Low-Carbon Transformation Action Plan (2024-2025)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Action Plan") proposes to accelerate the promotion of green, low-carbon, and high-quality development of the economy and society. By 2024, the energy consumption intensity and carbon emission intensity in the province will be further reduced, the total emissions of major pollutants will continue to decrease, the capacity and absorption capacity of renewable energy generation will continuously improve, and the production and lifestyle will accelerate green transformation; by 2025, all national energy conservation and emission reduction targets and environmental quality improvement goals set for the 14th Five-Year Plan will be fully achieved, with significant progress in optimizing and adjusting industrial structure, energy structure, and transportation structure.

[Policy Interpretation]The "Action Plan" deploys five major tasks around industry sectors, energy systems, infrastructure, and other fields:First, promote the green low-carbon transformation of industries.Promote standardized and healthy development of 'two high' industries, striving for a ratio of 'two high' production capacity reaching benchmark energy efficiency levels by 2025 at 35%; intensify efforts to upgrade traditional industries, adhering to high-end, intelligent, green, and clustered directions; continuously implement 'ten thousand technical transformations and ten thousand enterprise transformations'; actively develop green environmental protection industries and vigorously develop energy-saving environmental protection equipment and service industries; accelerate the construction of a green manufacturing system, aiming to establish a total of 500 provincial-level or above green factories and 50 green industrial parks by 2025; improve resource recycling levels.Second, accelerate the construction of a new energy system.Vigorously develop new energy and renewable energy; implement coal-to-electricity transformation actions. By the end of 2025, power generation units below 300,000 kilowatts will basically exit; actively promote oil and gas quality improvement and efficiency enhancement. By 2025, crude oil and natural gas production will stabilize at 21 million tons and 500 million cubic meters respectively, with coastal LNG annual unloading capacity reaching 25 million tons; enhance green electricity absorption capacity. By 2025, pumped storage capacity in operation or under construction will reach about 10 million kilowatts, with new storage scale exceeding 6 million kilowatts.Third, accelerate the green upgrade of infrastructure.Vigorously develop railway transportation; focus on enhancing water transport service capabilities; promote green development in urban-rural construction; continuously improve urban municipal networks; continuously optimize rural living environments.Fourth, enhance ecological environment measurement.Deeply fight for blue sky protection battles to achieve national air quality assessment targets assigned to our province. PM2.5 concentration will drop to 38 micrograms per cubic meter, effectively eliminating heavy pollution weather; deeply fight for clear water protection battles. By 2025, soil environmental quality will generally remain stable with safe utilization rate of polluted arable land reaching about 93%; promote scientific afforestation pilot demonstration province construction. By 2025, complete national afforestation plans and nurture forests over an area of 200,000 acres.Fifth, actively practice the concept of a green low-carbon lifestyle.Carry out nationwide actions; promote green consumption; advocate for a green lifestyle.

The National Energy Administration Shandong Regulatory Office issued the "Shandong Power Market Parameters (Trial)".

[Policy Information]On May 31, the National Energy Administration Shandong Regulatory Office issued the "Shandong Power Market Parameters (Trial)", which stipulates 31 parameter standards closely related to power market operations.

[Policy Interpretation]The parameters related to energy storage are as follows:The proportion of pumped storage power stations participating in market capacityThe proportion of pumped storage power stations participating in market capacity γ market % =50%. The reserved system requires a backup capacity of 2 million kilowatts that can be adjusted by power dispatching agencies as needed.Maximum allowable declaration deviation rate on user sideThe maximum allowable declaration deviation rate λ1 is temporarily set at 20%. Among them, independent new-type storage, pumped storage, new energy combined with supporting storage on the user side are temporarily not recovered. Virtual power plant load-type units (#2F machine, #2R machine) are temporarily set at 50%.

The Shandong Power Trading Center Co., Ltd. released the "Implementation Rules for Settlement in Shandong Power Market and Calculation Examples (Trial Version V1.0)".

[Policy Information]On June 6, Shandong Power Trading Center Co., Ltd. issued a notice on printing <Implementation Rules for Settlement in Shandong Power Market and Calculation Examples (Trial Version V1.0)>, clarifying electricity settlement for generation side entities during debugging operation periods, wholesale market generation entities, wholesale market user side entities, retail markets etc.

[Policy Interpretation]Power dispatching agencies should push the first grid connection time and completion time of full equipment startup trial operation through technical support systems to power trading institutions and grid enterprises on the day when generating units and independent new-type storage complete their first grid connection or full equipment startup trial operation. The electricity generated during debugging operation periods for generating units and independent new-type storage will be settled according to debugging period prices. The settlement formula for electricity fees during debugging operation periods for generating units and independent new-type storage is: R(Debugging)= Q(Debugging)×P(Debugging), where: Q(Debugging)= electricity generated during debugging operation periods for generating units and independent new-type storage; P(Debugging)= settlement electricity price during debugging operation periods for generating units and independent new-type storage; R(Debugging)= settlement electricity fee during debugging operation periods for generating units and independent new-type storage. For new operating entities on user side or combined entities of new energy with supporting storage during temporary unified dispatch operation periods do not execute user side previous day declaration deviation recovery.

(1) The National Energy Administration issued a notice on "Doing a Good Job in New Energy Consumption Work to Ensure High-Quality Development of New Energy".

[Policy Information]To enhance the power system's ability to absorb new energy, accelerate the construction of supporting grid projects for new energy, actively promote system regulation capability enhancement and coordinated development between grid sources. On May 28th, the National Energy Administration issued a notice on "Doing a Good Job in New Energy Consumption Work to Ensure High-Quality Development of New Energy", mainly deploying four key tasks and two guarantee measures while relaxing the absorption rate from regions with better resources from 95% to 90%.

Regarding key tasks: First is to accelerate the construction of supporting grid projects for new energy.. Strengthen planning management by proposing improvement requirements for planning management work on supporting grid projects above and below 500 kilovolts as well as distribution networks; accelerate preliminary work approval and construction while ensuring safety; optimize grid connection processes; simplify review procedures; further improve efficiency.Second is to actively promote system regulation capability enhancement and coordinated development between grid sources.Strengthen the construction of system regulation capabilities. Provincial energy authorities, in conjunction with the National Energy Administration's dispatched agencies and relevant departments, will conduct demand analysis for power system regulation capabilities based on the growth scale and utilization rate targets of new energy, and develop local regulation capability enhancement plans tailored to local conditions; strengthen the evaluation and recognition of regulation resource effectiveness, conduct comprehensive assessments of the flexibility transformation effects of coal power units, the regulation performance of various energy storage facilities, and the participation scale and confidence of load-side regulation resources in system regulation; orderly arrange the construction of new energy projects to effectively enhance new energy grid connection performance.Fully leverage the role of the power grid resource allocation platform.Further enhance the power grid resource allocation capability. Power grid enterprises should further increase the proportion of new energy transmitted through inter-provincial and inter-regional transmission channels, strengthen mutual assistance between provinces, comprehensively improve the observability, measurability, adjustability, and controllability of distribution networks, fairly utilize various regulation resources, and build an intelligent scheduling system; fully leverage the role of the electricity market mechanism to optimize inter-provincial electricity trading mechanisms.Scientifically optimize new energy utilization rate targets.Scientifically determine the new energy utilization rate targets for various regions, fully considering factors such as new energy development, system carrying capacity, system economy, and user affordability, to comprehensively determine regional utilization rate targets. In regions with better resource conditions, a slight relaxation is allowed, with a principle that it should not be lower than 90%, and annual dynamic assessments should be conducted based on consumption situations; optimize the management methods for new energy utilization rate targets and strengthen their execution.

In terms of guarantee measures, solidly carry out statistical management of new energy consumption data.Power generation and grid enterprises will unify the statistical caliber for new energy utilization rates. The National New Energy Power Consumption Monitoring and Early Warning Center will work with the National Renewable Energy Information Management Center to ensure accurate statistical verification of new energy consumption data.Regularly carry out monitoring analysis and regulatory work on new energy consumption.The National Energy Administration organizes relevant units to focus on strengthening supervision over inter-provincial measures for new energy consumption.

[Policy Interpretation]Since 2019, the state has strictly controlled wind and solar abandonment rates, setting a high utilization rate target of 95%, which has greatly promoted the development of new energy and ensured investment enthusiasm. Through administrative means, it has addressed serious wind and solar abandonment issues in regions with better resource conditions in Northwest China, which was significant at that time. As time goes by, the proportion of installed capacity for new energy continues to rise, even surpassing that of regulated thermal power. Maintaining a high consumption rate of 95% is becoming increasingly difficult. At the same time, prices for wind and solar equipment continue to decline, allowing power investors to tolerate a certain level of abandonment. At this point, in order to maintain a high level of consumption at 95%, localities have begun to restrict access for new energy instead, which is not conducive to its development. The purpose of this notice is to enhance the power system's capacity for absorbing new energy while ensuring reasonable utilization levels during large-scale development. Therefore, based on the new situation, relaxing the high-level consumption limit to a bottom line of 90% is suitable for the current stage of new energy development. Of course, this 90% bottom line refers to regions with better resource conditions such as Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Qinghai, etc. Whether consumption rates in developed eastern provinces will decline needs to be determined by provincial energy authorities. The determination of consumption rates involves various aspects including wind and solar investment, energy storage, and industry; pulling one thread affects the whole fabric. In eastern areas like Jiangsu and Zhejiang where loads are large, new energy consumption rates reach 100%, while Shandong exceeds 98%. There is currently no motivation to lower new energy consumption rates to increase access capacity; it is estimated that provincial energy authorities will be very cautious and may maintain the current utilization rate at 95%.

In addition to consumption rates, this notice clearly accelerates the construction of supporting grid projects for new energy, actively promotes improvements in system regulation capabilities and coordinated development between grids and sources as key tasks. From an optimal system perspective, it coordinates development and absorption to leave more space for new energy development. This is significant for planning and constructing a new type of energy system in China, accelerating the establishment of a new type of power system and a new type of energy system, improving management mechanisms for new energy utilization rates, supporting high-quality development of new energy, and promoting achievement of 'dual carbon' goals.

(2) Multiple national ministries jointly issued a series of documents including 'Special Action Plan for Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction in the Steel Industry.'

[Policy Information]To further intensify efforts in energy conservation and carbon reduction work across various fields and industries by implementing special actions for energy conservation and carbon reduction in specific sectors while accelerating renovations for energy conservation and updates to energy-using equipment. On June 7th, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), and National Energy Administration jointly issued a series of documents including 'Special Action Plan for Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction in the Steel Industry' (NDRC Circular [2024] No. 730), 'Special Action Plan for Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction in the Refining Industry' (NDRC Circular [2024] No. 731), 'Special Action Plan for Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction in the Synthetic Ammonia Industry' (NDRC Circular [2024] No. 732), 'Special Action Plan for Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction in the Cement Industry' (NDRC Circular [2024] No. 733).

The series of documents clarify major goals for energy conservation and carbon reduction in four industries: steel, refining, synthetic ammonia, and cement. They deploy key tasks such as optimizing industrial structure adjustments, renovating for energy conservation and updating equipment used for energy consumption, transitioning towards green low-carbon energy consumption patterns, recycling energy resources, digital upgrades etc., while strengthening policy guarantees around incentives/constraints, financial support, standard enhancements, technological innovation etc., along with work requirements regarding organization leadership, project implementation supervision management as well as publicity guidance. Green hydrogen substitution along with research & application on hydrogen technology are identified as important pathways towards achieving these goals across all four industries. Among them are significant increases in green hydrogen consumption ratios as one major developmental goal within action plans for refining & synthetic ammonia industries.

Next steps involve NDRC collaborating with relevant departments to support regions as well as related industries & enterprises in effectively implementing these documents while deeply executing sector-specific special actions on conserving carbon emissions & accelerating renovations/upgrades on equipment used for consuming energies—providing strong support towards actively & steadily advancing carbon peak & neutrality goals while accelerating green transformation across developmental methods.

[Policy Interpretation]Industries such as steelmaking refining synthetic ammonia cement are crucial foundational sectors within national economy but also key areas contributing significantly towards CO2 emissions due their high-energy consumption nature. Currently approximately 15%,15%,11%,16% respectively within crude steel refining synthetic ammonia cement industries still have production capacity efficiency below benchmark levels indicating substantial potential exists regarding conserving carbon emissions here too! The recently released documents outline primary objectives aimed at achieving these goals across four sectors including targeting around 32 million tons standard coal savings through implementing renovations/updates by years’ end resulting into reductions totaling approximately84 million tons CO2 emissions! By end-2025 benchmark levels should see production capacities above standards reaching at least30% while those below benchmarks must undergo technical renovations or phased out entirely!

Within action plans concerning refining & synthetic ammonia sectors there’s an evident rise regarding green hydrogen consumption creating opportunities within hydrogen industry’s growth! Historically China’s hydrogen development focused mainly upon fuel cell vehicles however due lack thereof supporting systems coupled alongside high costs limited its scale thus far! The emergence surrounding green hydrogen opens up another avenue towards hydrogen advancements especially given EU’s carbon tariffs injecting vitality into this sector domestically too—initiatives requiring usage from chemical industries will spur rapid growth across related fields involving green hydrogen along with green ammonia & alcohols hence seizing opportunities becomes imperative!

Overall speaking state actively promotes relevant industries’ efforts towards conserving carbon emissions while ensuring strict project entry standards are upheld alongside implementing renovations aimed at existing projects optimizing structures surrounding how energies are consumed effectively enhancing overall efficiency levels whilst reducing CO2 output significantly—this holds great importance supporting society-wide initiatives aimed at conserving carbon emissions.

(3) The State Council issued the '2024-2025 Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction Action Plan.'

[Policy Information]On May 29, the State Council issued the '2024-2025 Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction Action Plan.' The 'Action Plan' proposes that by 2024, energy consumption per unit of GDP and carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced by approximately 2.5% and 3.9%, respectively. Energy consumption per unit of added value in large-scale industries will be reduced by approximately 3.5%, and the proportion of non-fossil energy consumption will reach about 18.9%. Energy conservation and carbon reduction transformations in key areas and industries are expected to achieve energy savings of about 50 million tons of standard coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 130 million tons. By 2025, the proportion of non-fossil energy consumption will reach about 20%, with similar energy savings and emission reductions as in 2024. National pumped storage and new energy storage installations are expected to exceed 62 million kilowatts and 40 million kilowatts (40GW), respectively; demand response capabilities in various regions should generally reach 3%-5% of maximum electricity load, with regions where the annual maximum electricity load peak-to-valley difference exceeds 40% required to achieve demand response capabilities of over 5% of maximum electricity load.

[Policy Interpretation]The 'Action Plan' focuses on key areas such as energy, industry, construction, transportation, public institutions, and energy-using equipment, making key work deployments in ten aspects: First, actions to reduce fossil energy consumption. Second, actions to enhance non-fossil energy consumption. Third, energy conservation and carbon reduction actions in the steel industry. Fourth, energy conservation and carbon reduction actions in the petrochemical industry. Fifth, energy conservation and carbon reduction actions in the non-ferrous metals industry. Sixth, energy conservation and carbon reduction actions in the building materials industry. Seventh, energy conservation and carbon reduction actions in construction. Eighth, energy conservation and carbon reduction actions in transportation. Ninth, energy conservation and carbon reduction actions in public institutions. Tenth, energy conservation and carbon reduction actions for energy-using products and equipment.

For the power industry, the 'Action Plan' is specifically reflected in: implementing coal power capacity electricity prices, deepening market-oriented reforms of new energy grid connection prices, and researching improvements to the energy storage pricing mechanism. It is strictly prohibited to implement electricity price discounts for high-energy-consuming industries. Accelerate the construction of large wind power and photovoltaic base transmission channels to enhance inter-provincial and inter-regional transmission capacity. Accelerate the transformation of distribution networks to enhance the carrying capacity of distributed new energy. Actively develop pumped storage and new types of energy storage. Vigorously develop new technologies and models such as microgrids, virtual power plants, and vehicle-grid interaction. Accelerate the construction of large wind power and photovoltaic bases focused on deserts, gobi deserts, and wastelands. Develop offshore wind power in a reasonable and orderly manner, promote large-scale development and utilization of marine energy, and advance the development and utilization of distributed new energy. Build large hydropower bases in an orderly manner, actively develop nuclear power safely and orderly, develop biomass energy according to local conditions, and promote hydrogen energy development comprehensively. The 'Action Plan' further strengthens the direction for developing new energy sources, energy storage, and hydrogen energy in the power industry through hard indicators that compel local governments to transition to green low-carbon practices.

(4) The Ministry of Ecology and Environment is researching and formulating the 'Technical Guidelines for Environmental Impact Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Thermal Power Industry Construction Projects (Trial).'

[Policy Information]To implement the requirements of documents such as 'The Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Deepening Pollution Prevention and Control' and 'National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy 2035,' promote a coordinated integration system for pollutant management with greenhouse gas management through environmental impact assessment technical methods and management systems, on May 23, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment formulated the 'Technical Guidelines for Environmental Impact Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Thermal Power Industry Construction Projects (Trial),' further standardizing unified technical requirements for environmental impact assessments of thermal power construction projects, promoting collaborative pollution reduction technology measures demonstration applications, and facilitating green low-carbon high-quality development in the thermal power industry.

[Policy Interpretation]The 'Guidelines' fully consider the characteristics of greenhouse gas emissions from thermal power industry construction projects, regulating relevant evaluation work from five aspects:First is to standardize work content and form.Clarify that environmental impact assessments for greenhouse gas emissions from thermal power industry construction projects include six parts: policy compliance analysis, engineering analysis, greenhouse gas emission evaluation, selection comparison and feasibility demonstration of collaborative pollution reduction measures, emission management and monitoring plans, as well as evaluation conclusions.Second is to standardize accounting objects and factors.Focus on compiling environmental impact reports for new construction, reconstruction, or expansion projects under categories 'Thermal Power Generation 4411' and 'Combined Heat & Power Generation 4412' listed in the 'Directory for Classified Management of Environmental Impact Assessments for Construction Projects,' clarifying that greenhouse gases accounted for thermal power industry construction projects are carbon dioxide.Third is to standardize accounting boundaries and methods.Use 'construction projects' in the thermal power industry as accounting boundaries for greenhouse gases including emissions from fossil fuel combustion; emissions from desulfurization agents (carbonates) decomposition during industrial production; emissions from denitrification reducing agents (urea) hydrolysis or pyrolysis processes; emissions from purchased electricity; heat emissions; as well as situations where greenhouse gases are collected for reuse by capture devices. Among these, desulfurization and denitrification facilities are focal points for collaborative pollution reduction efforts.Fourth is to standardize evaluation indicators and requirements.Combine production processes with product characteristics in the thermal power industry to propose using greenhouse gas emission indicators per unit product (electricity or heat) to analyze project emission levels while emphasizing analysis based on relevant national or local publicly released greenhouse gas emission benchmarks (standards).Fifth is to standardize selection comparison requirements for pollution reduction measures.Propose conducting selection comparison work from aspects such as source prevention control, process control, end treatment, recycling utilization while ensuring that regional environmental quality does not deteriorate as a baseline; distinguish between factors meeting environmental quality standards versus those not meeting them; propose selection comparison requirements based on feasible technologies meeting pollution control standards along with best available technologies for pollution reduction measures; promote relevant technology implementation ensuring collaborative emission reduction effects are not compromised. Encourage demonstration applications for pollution reduction technologies, clean energy utilization, greenhouse gas capture recycling utilization, online monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions.

(5) The National Energy Administration publicly solicited opinions on the 'Basic Rules for Electricity Market Registration.'

[Policy Information]On June 4th, the National Energy Administration issued a notice soliciting opinions on the 'Basic Rules for Electricity Market Registration,' involving mid-to-long-term electricity markets, spot markets, auxiliary service markets etc. All market participants involved in electricity market transactions including generation companies, electricity sales companies, electricity users, new business entities (including storage companies, virtual power plants, load aggregators etc.) must comply with principles established by basic rules for electricity market registration.

[Policy Interpretation]The document stipulates that generation companies whose market registration review is approved do not need public disclosure; registration procedures take effect directly. For changes caused by changes in operating rights of storage companies affecting transfer or capacity adjustments of storage projects (units), or changes in other key technical parameters affecting transaction organization must submit information changes. Additionally, it also stipulates basic conditions for storage companies, virtual power plants, load aggregators, distributed generation sources as well as electric vehicle charging facilities.

Among them:Basic conditions for storage companies include:Sign a grid connection scheduling agreement with the grid company and connect to the power dispatch automation system; have conditions for time-sharing measurement and transmission of power and energy data, with data accuracy and reliability meeting settlement requirements; meet corresponding technical conditions such as maximum charging and discharging power, maximum adjustment capacity, and continuous charging and discharging time, with specific values based on relevant standards or regulations from national and local authorities; the energy storage facility and its operating entity are considered as one, equipped with independent measurement, control, and other technical conditions, and can be monitored and dispatched by the grid when connected to the power dispatch automation system. If it has legal person status, it can choose to convert to an independent energy storage project and directly participate in power market transactions as an operating entity.The basic conditions for virtual power plants and load aggregators include:Sign a load confirmation agreement or grid connection scheduling agreement with the grid company, connect to a new type of power load management system or power dispatch automation system; have conditions for time-sharing measurement and transmission of power and energy data, with data accuracy and reliability meeting settlement requirements; virtual power plants must have the ability to adjust or control aggregated resources, possessing software and hardware systems with functions such as information processing, operation monitoring, business management, measurement supervision, and control execution; load aggregators must have the ability to adjust or control aggregated resources, possessing a safe and reliable load management operation system; the aggregation scope, adjustment performance, and other conditions of virtual power plants and load aggregators must meet the relevant rules of the corresponding market.

(6) The China Electricity Council publicly solicits opinions on the national standard "Technical Requirements for Household Photovoltaic Energy Storage Integrated Machines."

[Policy Information]On May 6th, the China Electricity Council issued a letter soliciting opinions on the national standard "Technical Requirements for Household Photovoltaic Energy Storage Integrated Machines." The document specifies the design, manufacturing, testing, inspection, operation, maintenance, and repair processes applicable to single-phase or three-phase household photovoltaic energy storage integrated machines at voltage levels of 220/380V. It also defines the classification and coding of household photovoltaic energy storage integrated machines, normal working conditions, appearance and protection levels, basic functions, electrical performance, safety performance, electromagnetic compatibility performance, environmental adaptability, inspection, labeling, packaging, transportation, storage, and other related content.

(1) The National Energy Administration releases data on national electricity consumption for January to May 2024.

[Dynamic Information]On June 20th, the National Energy Administration released data on national electricity consumption for January to May. From January to May, total electricity consumption reached 38.37 trillion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 8.6%, with industrial generation above designated size accounting for 36.57 trillion kilowatt-hours. In terms of electricity consumption by industry: primary industry consumed 49.5 billion kilowatt-hours (up 9.7% year-on-year); secondary industry consumed 25.365 trillion kilowatt-hours (up 7.2% year-on-year); tertiary industry consumed 691.8 billion kilowatt-hours (up 12.7% year-on-year); urban and rural residential electricity consumption was 559.2 billion kilowatt-hours (up 9.9% year-on-year).

(2) The 2024 (4th) China (Shandong) High-Quality Development Conference and Exhibition on Energy Storage opens in Jinan.

[Dynamic Information]On June 5th, the 2024 (4th) China (Shandong) High-Quality Development Conference and Exhibition on Energy Storage opened in Jinan. The conference focused on "Focusing on Energy Storage Development for a Green Future" as its theme and invited academicians from both academies, experts and scholars, relevant leaders from domestic enterprises in power generation, grid management, power planning design, energy storage investment construction, digital energy services, comprehensive energy services etc., along with over 700 participants from across the entire energy storage supply chain including suppliers and industry leaders. Statistics show that over 30 thousand people attended offline on the opening day while online participation reached over three million.

[Dynamic Interpretation]In recent years, Shandong has focused on achieving its "dual carbon" strategic goals by prioritizing renewable energy development to accelerate the increase in non-fossil energy consumption ratio. By the end of April this year, installed capacity of renewable energy reached 98.29 million kilowatts in the province accounting for 45.3% of total installed capacity. Among them: photovoltaic installed capacity was 61.115 million kilowatts (ranked first in the country), biomass installed capacity was 4.448 million kilowatts (ranked second), wind power installed capacity was 26.004 million kilowatts (ranked fourth). Currently, new energy storage capacity in operation has reached 4.684 million kilowatts which is three times that at the end of 2022; it is expected to exceed six million kilowatts by 2025 and sixteen million kilowatts by 2030.

(3) Huaneng Shandong Company launches its virtual power plant.

[Dynamic Information]On June 14th, Huaneng Shandong Company's invested virtual power plant completed registration on the Shandong Power Trading Center platform marking it as the first virtual power plant officially operational in the province. This project operates at Huaneng Huangtai Power Plant and has connected resources totaling 143 megawatts including commercial users represented by distributed photovoltaics, building air conditioning systems, charging piles etc., among which adjustable capacity is at 38.67 megawatts making it the virtual power plant with the highest data collection density in the province along with a comprehensive range of load types and application scenarios.

[Dynamic Interpretation]Virtual power plants differ from traditional power plants; they represent an intelligent grid technology—a smart energy management system—and a smart energy control platform that aggregates distributed energy sources such as distributed generation sources like solar panels or wind turbines along with storage systems like batteries or supercapacitors through advanced information communication technology and software systems for collaborative optimization based on market electricity demand. The core function of a virtual power plant is to improve electricity efficiency balance supply-demand dynamics optimize resource allocation enhance safety stability levels within electric systems.

(4) Datang Luban Power Co., Ltd implements an innovative mixed storage frequency modulation project of 9MW.

[Dynamic Information]Datang Luban Power Co., Ltd has innovatively implemented a mixed storage frequency modulation project of 9MW which combines short-term high-power supercapacitors with long-term lithium battery output maximizing their respective advantages achieving efficient complementarity and synergy. The unit's adjustment performance indicators have improved by at least one point five times reaching leading levels within Shandong's grid while increasing AGC compensation volume contributing to economic benefits enhancement simultaneously improving coal burning efficiency extending unit availability lifespan further promoting overall societal energy conservation emission reduction.

(5) Shandong's electricity spot market transitions from trial operation to formal operation.

[Dynamic Information]On June 17th, the National Energy Administration's Shandong Regulatory Office issued a notice regarding Shandong's electricity spot market transitioning from trial operation to formal operation. In accordance with requirements from "The Notice from National Development Reform Commission Office & National Energy Administration Comprehensive Department on Further Accelerating Electricity Spot Market Construction" (Development Reform Office Reform [2023] No.813), relevant departments within the province actively promote this transition while commissioning third-party evaluations conducted by State Power Planning Design Institute which concluded that Shandong's electricity spot market rule system is sound compliant risk prevention information disclosure credit management systems are complete technical support systems personnel venues etc., are adequately secured meeting conditions for formal operation transition making it third provincial-level electricity spot market after Shanxi Guangdong transitioning into independent operations.

(6) The East China Energy Supervision Bureau releases "Implementation Rules for Power Auxiliary Services Management in East China Region (Draft for Comments)" and "Implementation Rules for Grid Operation Management in East China Region (Draft for Comments)."

[Policy Information]On June 5, the East China Energy Regulatory Bureau released the "Implementation Rules for Power Auxiliary Services Management in East China (Draft for Comments)" and the "Implementation Rules for Power Grid Operation Management in East China (Draft for Comments)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Two Rules"), which stipulate the compensation and assessment for multiple auxiliary services. New types of energy storage, including electrochemical, compressed air, and flywheel, can provide auxiliary services to the system. Participation forms include independent storage, source-side, and user-side storage. Auxiliary services are divided into basic auxiliary services and paid auxiliary services. Energy storage must provide basic services such as primary frequency regulation, peak shaving, and reactive power assistance to the power system free of charge; it can also provide paid services such as primary frequency regulation, automatic generation control (AGC), low-frequency regulation, paid peak shaving, paid reactive power regulation, paid automatic voltage control (AVC), stable machine disconnection, and black start, and earn revenue according to relevant rules.

(7) Notice from the People's Government Office of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on further accelerating the high-quality development of the hydrogen energy industry.

[Dynamic Information]On June 7, the People's Government Office of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region issued a notice on further accelerating the high-quality development of the hydrogen energy industry, mainly including five aspects: "Enhancing the technological innovation capability of the hydrogen energy industry," "Accelerating the development and expansion of the hydrogen energy industry," "Accelerating the construction of hydrogen energy infrastructure," "Accelerating the testing and demonstration of application scenarios," and "Strengthening the guarantee of production factors."

(8) Shenzhen: Encouraging large-scale production of key equipment for virtual power plants.

[Dynamic Information]On June 13, the Shenzhen Development and Reform Commission released several measures to support the accelerated development of virtual power plants. The document points out that it encourages large-scale production of key equipment for virtual power plants. It encourages new energy vehicle manufacturers to carry out technological innovation and open V2G functions at the vehicle end. For industrialization projects of key core equipment for virtual power plants such as V2G charging piles, intelligent control terminals for distributed resources, collaborative operation management software for distributed resources, metering communication chip modules, and computing chips, a maximum support of no more than 15 million yuan will be provided per project after review.

(9) Successful on-site trial of hydrogen production from produced water without purification in gas fields.

[Dynamic Information]At the end of May, a team from Dongfang Electric (Fujian) Innovation Research Institute Co., Ltd. successfully completed an on-site trial of hydrogen production from produced water without purification in PetroChina's Changqing Oilfield in Ordos, Inner Mongolia. During the trial, the hydrogen output of the demonstration prototype reached its rated value, and on-site measurements showed that the hydrogen purity reached 99.999%. This trial is also the first application of "direct electrolysis technology for hydrogen production from seawater without desalination" in the field of industrial wastewater hydrogen production, providing a reference route for future exploration to expand seawater direct hydrogen production technology into energy-saving and environmental protection fields for industrial wastewater such as petrochemical wastewater and steelmaking wastewater.

(10) The People's Government of Hangzhou City released the "Implementation Plan for National Carbon Peak Pilot (Hangzhou)."

[Dynamic Information]On May 21, the People's Government of Hangzhou City released the "Implementation Plan for National Carbon Peak Pilot (Hangzhou)," which will fully leverage three major advantages: digital technology, science and technology, and institutional frameworks. It aims to innovate energy-saving and carbon-reduction paths in key areas such as buildings, transportation, and residents' lives, striving to become a national benchmark area for carbon peak digital empowerment, a model area led by technology, and a demonstration area for institutional innovation to provide experience for lightweight urban carbon peaks across the country.

(11) The People's Government of Suzhou City released the "Implementation Plan for National Carbon Peak Pilot (Suzhou Industrial Park)" and "Suzhou Carbon Peak Implementation Plan."

[Policy Information]In May 2024, the People's Government of Suzhou City released the "Implementation Plan for National Carbon Peak Pilot (Suzhou Industrial Park)" and "Suzhou Carbon Peak Implementation Plan," which will implement ten carbon reduction actions according to the strategy of "controlling carbon through production, optimizing production with carbon reduction, reducing carbon through innovation, and achieving low carbon across society." By 2025, energy consumption per unit GDP will decrease by 14.5% compared to 2020; carbon dioxide emissions per unit GDP will decrease in an orderly manner; ensuring that indicators such as non-fossil energy consumption reaching 13% and forest coverage reaching 20.56% set by provincial authorities are met. By 2030, energy consumption per unit GDP will continue to decline; carbon dioxide emissions per unit GDP will meet provincial targets; non-fossil energy consumption will continue to increase.

(12) The "Research Report on Carbon Emissions at Consumption End (2024)" compiled by institutions including University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Urban Environment Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Tsinghua University was released.

[Dynamic Information] In May, led by Shanghai Advanced Research Institute Chinese Academy of Sciences, institutions including University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Urban Environment Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Tsinghua University jointly compiled and released the "Research Report on Carbon Emissions at Consumption End (2024)." The report presents recent results from expert teams based on global carbon emissions research from a consumption perspective. It analyzes changes in carbon emissions at consumption end in major developed countries and developing countries from 1990 to 2019 and assesses trade carbon transfer effects for typical products. The report suggests further strengthening research on consumption end accounting methodologies, expanding product coverage in research, and constructing a comprehensive carbon measurement technology system combining top-down and bottom-up approaches to obtain deeper, more accurate, and comprehensive accounting results.

(13) The Shanghai Environmental Energy Exchange implemented compensated bidding issuance of carbon emission quotas in Shanghai.

[Dynamic Information]On May 31, Shanghai Environmental Energy Exchange organized compensated bidding issuance of carbon emission quotas in Shanghai according to relevant requirements from the Shanghai Ecological Environment Bureau's announcement on compensated bidding issuance for carbon emission quotas in Shanghai for 2023. The total amount issued this time was one million tons; effective declared amount was 2,053,590 tons; total transaction amount was one million tons with participation from 43 bidders; 21 bidders successfully bid. The base price was set at 72.15 yuan/ton; highest bid price was 88.00 yuan/ton; lowest bid price was also set at 72.15 yuan/ton. The unified transaction price was set at 75.06 yuan/ton with a total transaction amounting to 75,060,000.00 yuan RMB.

(14) The World Bank released its latest annual report titled "Current Status and Future Trends in Carbon Pricing Development (2024)."

[Dynamic Information]On May 21st, the World Bank released its latest annual report titled "Current Status and Future Trends in Carbon Pricing Development (2024)," indicating that carbon pricing revenue reached a record high of $104 billion in 2023. Currently there are a total of 75 types of carbon pricing mechanisms operating worldwide with more than half of generated revenue used to support climate-related projects. In this latest report by World Bank it was found that direct carbon pricing (reaching or exceeding recommended price ranges set by high-level committees to keep temperature rise well below two degrees Celsius) only covers less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.^ºC). The report states that stronger commitments are needed to bridge gaps between countries' climate commitments and policy implementation.