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according to the wechat public account of "china water conservancy", the guangdong provincial development and reform commission and the guangdong provincial water resources department recently jointly issued the "notice on the trial implementation of differentiated on-grid electricity prices for small hydropower stations in our province" (hereinafter referred to as the "notice"), which clearly stipulates the trial implementation of differentiated on-grid electricity price policies for small hydropower stations, which will be officially implemented on january 1, 2025. this new policy links the on-grid electricity price with the discharge of ecological flow. it is the first electricity price policy in china that reflects the cost of ecological restoration and governance, and will help to comprehensively promote the green and sustainable development of guangdong's small hydropower industry.

the notice states that "for small hydropower stations with an ecological flow discharge compliance rate of 90% (including 90%) or more, the on-grid electricity price will be increased by 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour on the original basis (excluding tax, the same below)" and "for small hydropower stations rated as 'green small hydropower demonstration stations', the on-grid electricity price will be increased by 1 cent per kilowatt-hour on the original basis". the above two electricity price policies can be implemented in a superimposed manner, that is, when the ecological flow discharge compliance rate of the "green small hydropower demonstration station" is above 90%, its on-grid electricity price will be increased by 2.5 cents. the notice also states that "for small hydropower stations with an ecological flow discharge compliance rate between 80% (including 80%) and 90%, the on-grid electricity price remains unchanged" and "for small hydropower stations with an ecological flow discharge compliance rate of less than 80%, the on-grid electricity price will be reduced by 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour on the original basis".

the notice stipulates that differentiated on-grid electricity prices will be assessed and implemented in a four-month cycle. the water conservancy (water affairs) departments of relevant cities at or above the prefecture level shall, together with the ecological environment and energy departments at the same level, notify the local power supply companies of the ecological flow discharge compliance rate of small hydropower stations in their jurisdiction in the previous four months before the 20th of january, may and september respectively; the assessment of "green small hydropower demonstration power stations" shall be carried out in accordance with the relevant regulations of the ministry of water resources, and the water conservancy (water affairs) departments of relevant cities at or above the prefecture level shall promptly notify the local power supply companies of the assessment results of small hydropower stations; power supply companies shall implement the corresponding differentiated on-grid electricity price policy from the 1st of the next month after receiving the notification letter.

in the next step, the guangdong provincial department of water resources will work with relevant departments to further formulate detailed implementation rules for differentiated on-grid electricity prices, and will work with the provincial department of ecology and environment, energy bureau and other departments to strengthen supervision, conduct joint spot checks on the ecological flow discharge compliance rates in various regions from time to time, and urge all regions to implement differentiated on-grid electricity price policies fairly, openly and impartially.