On April 8th, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration (NEA) jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Virtual Power Plants" (Fa Gai Neng Yuan [2025] No. 357). The document states:

A virtual power plant is a power operation organization model that aggregates various distributed resources such as distributed power sources, adjustable loads, and energy storage, acting as a new type of business entity to collaboratively participate in power system optimization and power market transactions.

Virtual power plants play an important role in enhancing power supply security, promoting the consumption of new energy, and improving the power market system. In terms of system operation, they can provide various regulation services such as peak shaving, frequency regulation, and backup. In terms of market transactions, they can aggregate dispersed resources to participate in market trading.

Accelerate the promotion of virtual power plants as a new type of resource aggregation business entity to participate as a whole in medium- and long-term power markets and spot markets, and clarify the corresponding principles for calculating electricity volume and electricity charges.

The document from the two ministries proposes:

1) Development Goals of Virtual Power Plants

By 2027, the construction and operation management mechanism of virtual power plants will be mature and standardized, the mechanism for participating in the power market will be sound and improved, and the national virtual power plant regulation capacity will reach over 20 million kilowatts.

According to Official Ammount @CNESA, by 2030, the application scenarios of virtual power plants will be further expanded, various business models will be innovatively developed, and the national virtual power plant regulation capacity will reach over 50 million kilowatts.

2) Conditions for Virtual Power Plants to Participate in the Power Market

Virtual power plants can participate in medium- and long-term power markets, spot markets, and ancillary service markets as independent entities. Various dispersed resources, while being aggregated by a virtual power plant, shall not participate in power market transactions repeatedly. In the initial stage of virtual power plant participation in the power market, admission requirements can be appropriately relaxed based on actual conditions and gradually optimized according to operational circumstances.

3) Encouraging the Development of Virtual Power Plants

Actively implement policies such as "two new initiatives" (large-scale equipment renewal and trade-in of consumer goods), and provide financial support to eligible virtual power plant projects.

Encourage financial institutions to provide virtual power plants with support such as low-interest loans, credit guarantees, and green bonds.

Source：https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/rUJ3rzY3QjoJPqfrbMNCCg