On January 10th, the National Energy Work Conference was held in Beijing. The meeting proposed to vigorously develop new and renewable energy, actively develop hydropower, coordinate the development of wind power, and vigorously develop distributed photovoltaic power generation. An additional 21 million kilowatts of hydropower installed capacity, 18 million kilowatts of wind power installed capacity, and 10 million kilowatts of photovoltaic power installed capacity were added throughout the year. This move has received widespread attention from industry insiders.

Ren Haoning, an energy industry researcher at China Investment Consulting, believes that the National Energy Work Conference is the overall outline of China’s energy work in 2013, with strong theoretical and practical guidance significance. The importance of this conference is self-evident. However, the formulation of conference objectives and macro policies is not the focus, and the specific implementation intensity is the topic that enterprises and investors are more concerned about.

Currently, the development of the new energy industry is severely hindered, and many problems have been accumulated for a long time, making it difficult to effectively solve them through market mechanisms in the short term. Government departments play an important role in rescuing industry crises and resolving corporate difficulties. The formulation of industry policies and development plans is undoubtedly important, as scientifically reasonable goals will play a crucial role in determining the overall development trend of the industry. However, it remains to be seen whether these policies can be specifically implemented.

Subsidy policies, preferential policies, electricity price policies, and grid connection policies are key factors that constrain the development of wind and photovoltaic industries. Their formulation and implementation are the responsibilities and obligations of relevant national departments, local governments, and power grid companies. The introduction of multiple policies last year seems to have given hope to struggling enterprises to get out of trouble. But the final implementation effect is not commendable, and the phenomenon of “too big to fall” and “policies at the top and below” is not uncommon. Photovoltaic and wind power companies are still deeply trapped in survival difficulties and cannot extricate themselves, facing the crisis of bankruptcy and elimination at any time.

Execution ability is a key indicator for measuring the efficiency of government departments and an important condition for ensuring the normal operation of the market economy. Relevant departments and local governments in our country should think deeply about their execution capabilities, especially in areas such as scientific governance and rule of law governance. After all, even the best measures that cannot be implemented will become empty talk, while general policies that can be well implemented will gradually show their positive effects.

According to the Investment Intelligence Analysis and Commentary on the Energy Industry by China Investment Corporation, China’s market economy system is not yet perfect, and it is difficult to achieve high efficiency solely based on market mechanisms. Relevant national departments and local governments will still play important roles in the process of economic development for a considerable period. Planning ability and execution ability are important indicators for testing the quality of personnel in relevant national departments. Whether they can scientifically govern basic industries such as energy and power is related to the national economy and people’s livelihood. The current energy industry does not lack policies, what is lacking is good execution.