National Energy Administration: Promote the construction of the first batch of vehicle-grid interactive pilot projects, and explore a market-oriented vehicle-grid interactive response mode.

Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission and other six departments jointly issued the "Action Plan for Doubling the Service Capacity of Electric Vehicle Charging Facilities in Three Years (2025-2027)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Action Plan"), and relevant officials from the National Energy Administration answered questions about the "Action Plan". The officials said that the "Action Plan" pays more attention to innovation in its considerations. The vehicle-grid interaction, as a new model and format, connects new energy vehicles to the power grid through charging and changing facilities, effectively utilizing the flexibility of new energy vehicles as adjustable energy storage resources through organized intelligent and orderly charging and bidirectional charging and discharging. The "Action Plan" proposes to scale up the application and promotion of the vehicle-grid interaction, promote the construction of the first batch of vehicle-grid interaction pilot projects, establish a mechanism for coordinated promotion and tracking evaluation, explore market-oriented response models for vehicle-grid interaction, and continuously expand the scope of vehicle-grid interaction pilot projects. In expanding the scope of vehicle-grid interaction pilot projects, continuous exploration and innovation will be done in terms of price policies, market mechanisms, and application scenarios. The National Energy Administration's relevant official answers questions about the "Action Plan" for doubling the service capacity of electric vehicle charging facilities in three years (2025-2027) 1. What is the background for the issuance of the "Action Plan"? Electric vehicles have entered a stage of rapid development, and charging facilities, as a key support for the new energy vehicle industry, directly affect consumers' confidence in purchasing. On one hand, in recent years, China's charging infrastructure has developed rapidly, and the service capacity can basically meet the current needs of new energy vehicles for charging. However, there are still issues such as uneven layout of public charging networks, optimization of facility functions structure, insufficient supply of services in residential areas, the need for stronger power supply guarantees, and the need to improve operational management effectiveness. Therefore, there is a need to formulate policies to address these issues. On the other hand, in March of this year, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Special Action Plan to Boost Consumption", with automobile consumption as an important means to boost consumption, requiring all localities and departments to optimize the consumption environment and create effective consumer demands. In order to implement the requirements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council to stabilize employment, stabilize the economy, and promote high-quality development, accelerate the construction of a high-quality charging infrastructure system, we have studied and formulated the "Action Plan". The "Action Plan" clarifies the goals and action path for the development of charging facilities in the coming period, to help accelerate the construction of a high-quality charging facility system that supports the development of the new energy vehicle industry. 2. What are the overall considerations of the "Action Plan"? The "Action Plan" focuses on "four areas of emphasis" and puts forward related policy measures to accelerate the construction of a high-quality charging facility system. Firstly, it emphasizes balance more. In terms of spatial layout, the current urban charging service guarantee capacity is relatively sufficient, but the construction of charging facilities in rural areas is not balanced. The "Action Plan" clearly states that efforts will be made to fill the gaps in the construction of charging facilities in rural areas, achieving full coverage of public charging facilities in rural areas. In terms of facility function structure, the average power of public charging facilities in China is only 45.5 kilowatts, which is still insufficient to meet the rapid replenishment needs in scenarios such as holidays or hotspots in the city. The "Action Plan" clearly states the need to accelerate the planning and construction of high-power charging facilities in key cities and highway service areas, further optimizing the facility function structure. Secondly, it emphasizes innovation more. The vehicle-grid interaction, as a new model and format, connects new energy vehicles to the power grid through charging and changing facilities, effectively utilizing the flexibility of new energy vehicles as adjustable energy storage resources through organized intelligent and orderly charging and bidirectional charging and discharging. The "Action Plan" proposes to expand the scope of vehicle-grid interaction pilot projects and continuously explore and innovate in terms of price policies, market mechanisms, and application scenarios. Thirdly, it emphasizes inclusivity more. The "Action Plan" addresses the difficulties in establishing charging facilities in residential areas, further strengthening the requirements for the construction of charging infrastructure in residential areas, actively promoting a new model of unified construction and service provision. It also addresses the lack of charging network coverage in rural areas by suggesting further expansion of the layout of charging facilities in rural areas and supporting the use of new energy vehicles in rural areas. To simplify the application process for installing residential charging stations, encouraging pilot programs such as "one certificate for one small community" and implementing "zero visits, zero approvals, zero charging fees" service measures. Fourthly, it emphasizes implementation more. In order to ensure the effective implementation of the "Three-Year Doubling" action, the "Action Plan" clarifies the corresponding responsibilities of relevant national departments and puts forward specific work requirements for local supervisory authorities, power grid companies, charging operation companies, industry associations, and consulting organizations, effectively ensuring the smooth implementation of the "Action Plan". 3. What are the main goals of the "Action Plan"? The "Action Plan" aims to build consumer confidence by continuously improving the charging network, efficiency, service quality, and creating a new ecological environment, promoting greater adoption and use of electric vehicles. By the end of 2027, a total of 28 million charging facilities will be built nationwide, providing over 3 billion kilowatts of public charging capacity, meeting the charging needs of over 80 million electric vehicles, and achieving a doubling of charging service capacity. 4. What key tasks are deployed in the "Action Plan"? The "Action Plan" proposes to implement five major special actions. First is the action to upgrade the quality of public charging facilities, focusing on the differentiated replenishment needs of urban, intercity, and rural charging networks, implementing classification strategies, constructing a city public charging network with rapid charging as the main focus, slow charging as supplementary, and high-power charging as beneficial supplement. This action also includes densifying the layout of charging facilities at highway service areas and optimizing the facility function structure, further extending and expanding the rural charging network, and ensuring charging demand during the "Spring Festival return home" period. Second is the action to optimize the charging conditions in residential areas, clearly stipulating that new residential areas must have charging facilities installed in 100% of fixed parking spaces or have conditions reserved for installation, and existing residential areas should supplement charging facilities as appropriate and carry out pilot programs for the "unified construction and service" model in residential areas. Third is the action to scale up the application and promotion of the vehicle-grid interaction, promoting the construction of the first batch of vehicle-grid interaction pilot projects, establishing a mechanism for coordinated promotion and tracking evaluation, exploring market-oriented response models for the vehicle-grid interaction, and continuously expanding the scope of vehicle-grid interaction pilot projects. Fourth is the action to improve power supply capacity and service, requiring the inclusion of charging facility access demands in distribution network planning, conducting optimization and capacity expansion of distribution network frameworks and substations, strengthening the guarantee of installation and connection services, actively expanding business handling channels, and optimizing internal approval processes. Fifth is the action to enhance the quality of charging operation services, increasing the supply of high-quality, high-efficiency, and high-reliability facilities, promoting the upgrade and renovation of old equipment, enhancing the environment and operational quality of charging stations, standardizing fee schedules, improving the monitoring services platform for charging facilities, and strengthening the evaluation and application of operational service quality results. 5. How will the effective implementation of the "Action Plan" be ensured? The "Action Plan" proposes four measures for ensuring effectiveness. Firstly, enhance organizational leadership. The National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration will coordinate the implementation of the action plan. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Transport, and others will strengthen policy support and work supervision in areas such as the vehicle-grid interaction, the construction of charging facilities in urban residential areas, and along highways. The State Administration for Market Regulation, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the National Energy Administration, among other departments, will strengthen supervision of the quality and safety of charging pile products and guide the formulation of standards. Secondly, strengthen implementation. Various entities in the charging industry will work together to effectively implement the action plan. Local government departments will tailor three-year action plans for the construction of charging facilities in their respective areas and increase support for accompanying grid construction and transformation. Power grid companies will strengthen supporting distribution network construction and power supply service levels, as well as support the construction of guaranteed charging facilities. Charging facility operation companies will enhance the scale and quality of charging facility construction. Industry associations and consulting organizations will improve technical standards and construction guidelines. Thirdly, strengthen safety management. Local government departments should strengthen charging facility safety management according to their responsibilities, and charging construction and operation companies should strictly follow national standards in site selection, design, construction, and fire protection installation of charging stations. Design, construction, supervision, and other units for public charging stations must fulfill their safety production responsibilities, and charging operation companies must ensure that charging equipment meets quality requirements. Fourthly, conduct effective publicity and guidance. Increase policy publicity efforts, conduct in-depth policy interpretation, and enhance cross-industry and cross-domain exchanges. This article is selected from the "National Development and Reform Commission" public account, GMTEight Editor: Jiang Yuanhua.