On February 12, 2026, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Implementation Opinions on Improving the National Unified Electricity Market System", which systematically deployed the key tasks for the construction of the national unified electricity market system in the next five to ten years.

The opinions are clear, and we will further promote more users and market entities to enter the electricity market, expand the scale of market-oriented transactions, improve the multi-level unified electricity market structure, and perfect the mechanism for connecting the medium - and long-term electricity, spot, and auxiliary service markets. By breaking down inter provincial market barriers, optimizing cross provincial and cross regional transaction processes, and improving the mechanism for electricity price formation, we aim to achieve optimized allocation and efficient utilization of electricity resources nationwide.

A major highlight of this opinion is the clear support for new entities to flexibly participate in market transactions. The policy proposes to actively promote emerging market entities such as new energy storage, virtual power plants, and smart microgrids to enter the market on an equal footing in accordance with the law, participate in electricity trading, auxiliary services, and capacity markets. At the same time, accelerate the improvement of the electricity market mechanism that adapts to a high proportion of renewable energy, and enhance the flexible regulation capability and operational efficiency of the power system.

The industry believes that this move marks the deepening stage of the national electricity marketization reform. With the increasing diversity of market entities and continuous improvement of trading mechanisms, power resources will be able to achieve optimized allocation on a larger scale and with higher efficiency, providing institutional support for building a new type of power system, ensuring energy security, and promoting green and low-carbon transformation.Editor/Gao Xue