On the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, the peaceful atmosphere of the Spring Festival is strong. On the electronic screen of the Guangdong Power Trading Center, transaction data of 135 power generation enterprises and 201 household electricity enterprises in Guangdong Province are rolling. In the spot power dispatch hall of Guangdong Power Grid, 7 kilometers away, Yang Yunzheng, a staff member of the operation planning department of the control center, raced against time to verify the data. "The spot clearance price on the 15th is 0.384 yuan/kilowatt hour." Deng Shan, a staff member of Guangdong Power Trading Center, said that the power spot market "does not close during the Spring Festival", which allows electricity companies to flexibly adjust their declared electricity consumption based on the production and operation situation of the next day, and also allows power generation companies to adjust their pricing strategies based on the supply and demand situation of the next day, achieving a virtuous cycle of market supply and demand. The picture shows the trading hall of Guangdong Power Trading Center. This is the first Spring Festival trading site for the Guangdong electricity spot market after it transitioned from trial operation to official operation. From the first day of the lunar new year to the sixth day (February 10-15), the total transaction volume of Guangdong Power Trading Center is expected to reach 2.464 billion kilowatt hours, with a daily average transaction of over 400 million kilowatt hours. Establishing a spot electricity market is an important part of the market-oriented reform of China's electricity system in recent years, and is a fundamental work for the preliminary establishment of a unified national electricity market system by 2025. Deng Shan said that spot market trading is refined to be conducted every 15 minutes, mainly reflecting changes in electricity supply and demand and primary energy costs. It plays a role in discovering prices and serves as a barometer of the electricity market, which can guide the optimization and allocation of electricity resources in a more precise manner. In recent years, China's electricity marketization reform has been continuously promoted, and the construction of the electricity spot market has accelerated. In 2023, the Basic Rules of the Electricity Spot Market (Trial), known as the Basic Law of the Electricity Spot Market, came into effect, marking a significant progress in the construction of the electricity spot market. The Guangdong electricity spot market is one of the first batch of "regularization" and the largest electricity spot market in China. According to statistical data from Guangdong Power Grid, in 2022 and 2023, the unplanned shutdown of thermal power units in Guangdong was controlled at 1.5% and 1%, respectively, far below the national average. The continuous operation of the spot market has a significant supporting effect on peak power generation. The spot electricity market also contributes to the development of the new energy industry. Starting from January 2024, all new energy units with voltage levels of 220 kV and above in Guangdong Province have participated in spot market trading. Currently, 45 new energy units have participated, with an installed capacity of over 15 million kilowatts. "This Spring Festival, the maximum output of new energy in Guangdong's power grid is expected to reach 15 million kilowatts, accounting for nearly 40% of the maximum electricity load." Yang Yun said that the entry of new energy into the market lays the foundation for Guangdong to further explore and establish a market trading mechanism that adapts to a high proportion of new energy participation, and also helps to improve the market absorption capacity of new energy. (Lai Xin She)