Central China's cross-province power interchange trading has been operating actively since continuous settlement trials began on July 1, helping secure supply and absorb renewable output during peak summer demand.

The trading mechanism, covering the four eastern provinces of the Central China grid, is organized daily and has seen 653 market participants complete transactions, with traded volumes exceeding 500 GWh and maximum cross-province interchange capacity reaching 3.53 GW, the Central China Energy Regulatory Bureau said.

Regional electricity demand hit record highs in July as temperatures ran above seasonal norms across most of the region, with evening supply security and midday renewable absorption challenges emerging simultaneously.

Buyers were mainly coal-fired thermal power plants, while sellers were primarily thermal and renewable generators. All participant types — including hydro, wind, solar, storage, pumped storage and virtual power plants — successfully cleared trades, enabling cross-province dispatch of flexible resources. Twenty-nine energy storage stations and one virtual power plant cleared, providing 458 MW and 5 MW of cross-province regulating capacity respectively, while pumped storage contributed up to 900 MW of cross-province regulation.

The market mechanism helped 327 renewable energy companies reduce curtailment and increase generation by nearly 100 GWh through outbound trading, with secondary clearing accounting for about half of that volume.

Looking ahead, the Central China Energy Regulatory Bureau will work with energy regulatory offices in Henan and Hunan to deepen regional power market development, improve market mechanisms, coordinate inter-provincial and intra-provincial market linkages, and support new market entities and demand-side resources, contributing to the national unified power market.