From ESS News

Regulators in China’s Zhejiang province have opened the provincial electricity spot market to independent grid-side batteries, with a move to price-and-quantity bidding planned for 2027.

Zhejiang will let independent grid-side storage projects trade in its electricity spot market under a notice jointly issued by the Zhejiang office of China’s National Energy Administration (NEA), the provincial development and reform commission, and the provincial energy bureau, according to a regulatory statement issued on Sept. 23.

Under the notice, independent grid-side storage participates in the spot market on a self-scheduled basis and chooses each day whether to enter the energy market or the frequency-regulation ancillary services market. The notice also sets rules for registration, settlement, and technical requirements for market entry.

Storage projects currently in retail electricity contracts may terminate them through the trading platform before entering the market. Projects not registered as storage will, in principle, not be dispatched in normal grid operation, said the regulator.

A project list attached to the notice covers 40 projects totaling 2.54 GW/5.1 GWh. Of these, 28 projects totaling 2.13 GW/4.27 GWh are in commercial operation and centrally dispatched, making them eligible for both the energy and frequency-regulation markets.

A further six operating projects, totaling 0.11 GW/0.22 GWh, can enter only the energy market. Zhejiang plans to move storage to price-and-quantity bidding from Jan. 1, 2027.

The regulator said it will continue to monitor storage market participation and press market operators to strengthen oversight.

The move follows China’s 2025 decision to scrap its energy storage mandate for renewable energy plants and the capacity price floor for grid-scale storage set in February.