On August 26th, the State Council Information Office held a series of themed press conferences on "Completing the 14th Five Year Plan with High Quality" to introduce the achievements of high-quality energy development during the 14th Five Year Plan period. What achievements has China made in energy development over the past five years? What key steps have been taken in the construction of a unified national electricity market system? How to make the dividends of energy development more widely benefit people's livelihoods? The relevant person in charge of the National Energy Administration responded to the hot topic. Since the establishment of the world's largest and fastest-growing renewable energy system during the 14th Five Year Plan period, China's energy industry has made breakthrough progress and historic achievements. Wang Hongzhi, a member of the Party Group of the National Development and Reform Commission and Director of the National Energy Administration, summarized the achievements of energy development during the 14th Five Year Plan period. He said, "Since the 14th Five Year Plan, facing the complex and changing international and domestic energy situation, we have firmly secured our energy bowl and embarked on the path of high-quality energy development in China, providing a Chinese solution for the world's energy transformation." Wang Hongzhi said that the 14th Five Year Plan is a five-year period with more abundant energy supply and stronger resilience. In the first four years of the 14th Five Year Plan, China's energy consumption growth has reached 1.5 times that of the 13th Five Year Plan, and it is expected that the new electricity consumption in the next five years will exceed the annual electricity consumption of the European Union. In 2024, the national power generation will exceed 10 trillion kilowatt hours, accounting for one-third of the global total. The total energy production will be equivalent to about 5 billion tons of standard coal, accounting for more than one-fifth of the global total, ensuring the "sufficient quantity and stable price" of energy supply. The 14th Five Year Plan is the fastest five years for green and low-carbon transformation. China has built the world's largest and fastest developing renewable energy system, with the proportion of renewable energy installed capacity increasing from 40% to around 60%. The annual new installed capacity of wind and photovoltaic power has surpassed the 100 million, 200 million, and 300 million kilowatt thresholds, achieving a step by step leap in development, with unprecedented speed and intensity of development. Energy consumption is moving towards green development. It is reported that there is 1 kilowatt hour of green electricity for every 3 kilowatt hours of electricity consumed in the whole society. In the national energy consumption, the proportion of non fossil fuels is expected to increase by 1 percentage point annually, exceeding the 20% target set in the 14th Five Year Plan, while the proportion of coal is expected to decrease by 1 percentage point annually. The 14th Five Year Plan is also a five-year period for achieving greater breakthroughs in energy technology innovation. New energy and other technological equipment lead the world, with over 40% of new energy patents worldwide. The efficiency of photovoltaic conversion and the capacity of offshore wind power units continue to break world records, and the scale of new energy storage has jumped to the top of the world. In addition, new models and business models are also flourishing, with the development of smart microgrids, virtual power plants, and other industries entering the fast lane. Pilot projects for large-scale application of vehicle network interaction are accelerating, and the integration of the energy industry with industries, transportation, and other fields is accelerating. New fields and tracks continue to emerge, becoming an important source of new quality production development. Wang Hongzhi stated that the main indicators proposed in the Outline of the 14th Five Year Plan, such as comprehensive energy production capacity and the proportion of non fossil energy, will be completed as scheduled. In the next step, we will make every effort to promote the construction of a new energy system during the "Tenth Five Year Plan" period, accelerate the construction of an energy power, and provide strong energy support for promoting Chinese path to modernization. After ten years of accelerating the construction of a new round of power system reform in the national unified power market system, with the joint efforts of all parties, China's power market is undergoing an unprecedented and profound transformation. The core task of the transformation is to build a unified national electricity market, which is the key outcome and vivid practice of building a unified national market in the energy field. Since the 14th Five Year Plan, the construction of a unified national electricity market has made substantial breakthroughs and breakthroughs. ”Li Chuangjun, Director of the New and Renewable Energy Department of the National Energy Administration, said. On the one hand, the construction of a unified national electricity market system is accelerating. China has gradually and orderly established a diversified and functionally complete electricity market. From a spatial perspective, there are both intra provincial and inter provincial transactions; In terms of time, there are annual and monthly transactions, as well as intraday and real-time transactions; From the perspective of trading varieties, in addition to basic electricity, there are also auxiliary service varieties such as peak shaving, frequency regulation, and backup. It is worth mentioning that this year we have also achieved normalized transactions across power grid operating zones, truly lighting up the lights of the Bay Area with the wind from the north. ”Li Chuangjun said. On the other hand, the national unified electricity market rules are basically complete. It is reported that the National Energy Administration has conscientiously implemented the requirements of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China for the construction of a unified national market and established a "1+6" basic rule system. This fundamentally solves the problem of fragmented and differentiated market rules in various regions, breaks down local protection and inter provincial barriers, unifies the "measurement scale" of the electricity market nationwide, and ensures market openness, transparency, and fair competition. In addition, the scale of the electricity market has achieved a simultaneous increase in both quantity and quality. Data shows that since the 14th Five Year Plan, China's market traded electricity has increased from 10.7 trillion kilowatt hours in the 13th Five Year Plan to 23.8 trillion kilowatt hours, more than doubling. The proportion of electricity consumption in the whole society has increased from 40% in 2020 to over 60% for four consecutive years, which is roughly equivalent to 2 out of every 3 kWh of electricity we use being directly generated through market transactions. Li Chuangjun stated that in the next step, the National Energy Administration will continue to make good use of the "invisible hand" of the market and the "visible hand" of the government, promote the development of the real economy and emerging industries with better configuration and higher level of power supply, and strive to build the unified national power market into the forefront of the unified national market, helping China's economy to achieve stability and long-term development. Efforts should be made to connect the "last mile" of energy consumption for people's livelihoods. Energy development is closely related to people's well-being. In order to strengthen the guarantee of energy consumption for people's livelihood, continuously improve the sense of access, happiness, and security of the people's energy consumption, the National Energy Administration has been continuously strengthening infrastructure construction and enhancing daily energy security. Over the past five years, we have deepened the implementation of the rural power grid consolidation and upgrading project, allocating a total of 25 billion yuan in central budget investment and driving the completion of investment in rural power grids exceeding 800 billion yuan. Further enhance the interconnectivity of oil and gas pipeline networks and the efficiency of pipeline transportation, and build a solid guarantee for people's gas consumption. ”Wang Hongzhi said. At the same time, China is actively promoting the development and utilization of distributed new energy for the benefit of the people. As of the first half of this year, the installed capacity of household photovoltaics is about 180 million kilowatts, which can increase farmers' income by about 14 billion yuan annually. Intensify the extension of large-scale power grids in remote areas, continuously improve off grid power supply in islands and other areas, and strive to connect the "last mile" of energy consumption for people's livelihoods. In terms of meeting the energy needs of people's livelihood, the National Energy Administration is making every effort to respond to the challenges of energy supply and demand situation and market fluctuations, strengthen the supply of electricity, gas, and oil for people's livelihood, and meet energy demand. The process of replacing terminal energy with electricity is also constantly advancing, with the popularity of household appliances, electric vehicles, and other devices increasing. Charging infrastructure has covered 98% of highway service areas, and the convenience of people's energy use continues to improve. Wang Hongzhi stated that in the next step, we will focus on meeting people's expectations and needs, continuously improving the accessibility of energy and the quality of energy services for people's livelihoods, so that the achievements of energy development can benefit all people more and fairly. (New Society)