Gansu¡¯s Virtual Power Plant Transaction and Settlement Gets Off to a Flying Start
2026-2-25
Starting in January 2026, virtual power plants (VPPs) in Gansu Province officially began participating in market transactions on a continuous and uninterrupted basis. State Grid Gansu Electric Power Company implemented the policy of ¡°daily clearing, monthly settlement, and payment to end users¡±, serving two virtual power plants and aggregated users in the province. In January, the total settled electricity volume reached 34.9116 million kWh, marking a successful flying start in transaction and settlement.
Occupying no land and burning no coal, virtual power plants aggregate various distributed resources¡ªincluding distributed generation, adjustable loads, and energy storage¡ªthrough information and communication technologies. As a new type of market entity, they participate in power system optimization and transactions, playing an important role in power supply security, new energy accommodation, and improving the electricity market system. According to their aggregation type, VPPs can be classified into three categories: load type, generation type, and load generation hybrid.
In simple terms, virtual power plants act as ¡°power plants¡± in the power grid: they supply electricity to the grid and take part in various electricity market transactions. They also act as ¡°loads¡±: by reducing or increasing power consumption, they support the grid¡¯s need for peak shaving and valley filling, enabling rapid response and grid stability.
To promote the implementation of this emerging initiative in Gansu, the province has revised and issued the Implementation Plan for the Construction and Operation Management of Virtual Power Plants in Gansu Province since last year. Relying on the new power load management system, Gansu has built a VPP operation and control platform integrating access testing, operation monitoring, effect evaluation, and full process transaction management. Meanwhile, unified coding and database registration of adjustable resources have been completed, realizing ¡°unified management, unified regulation, and unified service¡± for the load resource pool. The full process link for virtual power plants to participate in the electricity energy market has been opened, enabling the stable access and normalized continuous trading of two VPPs and achieving closed loop market oriented operation. At present, a service system integrating policy formulation, system construction, platform support, resource standardization, and market orientation has been formed, empowering the whole chain of virtual power plant construction and operation.
Occupying no land and burning no coal, virtual power plants aggregate various distributed resources¡ªincluding distributed generation, adjustable loads, and energy storage¡ªthrough information and communication technologies. As a new type of market entity, they participate in power system optimization and transactions, playing an important role in power supply security, new energy accommodation, and improving the electricity market system. According to their aggregation type, VPPs can be classified into three categories: load type, generation type, and load generation hybrid.
In simple terms, virtual power plants act as ¡°power plants¡± in the power grid: they supply electricity to the grid and take part in various electricity market transactions. They also act as ¡°loads¡±: by reducing or increasing power consumption, they support the grid¡¯s need for peak shaving and valley filling, enabling rapid response and grid stability.
To promote the implementation of this emerging initiative in Gansu, the province has revised and issued the Implementation Plan for the Construction and Operation Management of Virtual Power Plants in Gansu Province since last year. Relying on the new power load management system, Gansu has built a VPP operation and control platform integrating access testing, operation monitoring, effect evaluation, and full process transaction management. Meanwhile, unified coding and database registration of adjustable resources have been completed, realizing ¡°unified management, unified regulation, and unified service¡± for the load resource pool. The full process link for virtual power plants to participate in the electricity energy market has been opened, enabling the stable access and normalized continuous trading of two VPPs and achieving closed loop market oriented operation. At present, a service system integrating policy formulation, system construction, platform support, resource standardization, and market orientation has been formed, empowering the whole chain of virtual power plant construction and operation.