After the cancellation of the temporary price intervention measures for electricity coal by the Secondary Reform Commission, the General Office of the State Council recently released the "Guiding Opinions on Deepening the Marketization Reform of Electricity Coal". At this point, the long-awaited guidance on the integration of electricity and coal has finally been implemented in the market. There are endless discussions about the trend of the coal-fired power market after the merger of coal and electricity.

Undoubtedly, after the implementation of coal electricity integration, contract coal will no longer exist, and its impact on the domestic coal market prices will completely disappear. The market coal price will become the benchmark price of the coal market, and the long-term negative impact of the "dual track system" on China's coal market will be completely eliminated. Coal prices are expected to rise significantly due to this impact, and the revenue situation of coal enterprises will be greatly improved. This is great news for the coal group, which is currently facing revenue difficulties, and its strong support for the integration of coal and electricity is understandable.

However, as the upstream of the thermal power industry, coal accounts for an important proportion of the cost of thermal power generation. A significant increase in coal prices will directly affect the profitability of thermal power enterprises, and the market environment they face will worsen. In 2012, the operating conditions of thermal power enterprises were already unbearable, with weak demand and the squeeze of new energy causing huge impacts on traditional thermal power enterprises. Most thermal power enterprises suffered significant losses. If coal prices change their downward trend next year, the survival ability of thermal power enterprises will face a new round of tests.

At the same time, domestic coal enterprises have more than just the possibility of profit, and fluctuations in the global coal market will have a significant impact. After the shale gas revolution, the United States' dependence on coal has significantly decreased, and coal exports are expected to rise again. The world coal market and China's coal market will face significant impacts, and the road to stabilizing the coal market is long and arduous. If coal prices continue to decline, it may be difficult for domestic enterprises to improve their living environment.

Coal and electricity companies are located in different links of the unified industrial chain, and they influence and constrain each other. This year, both coal and electricity companies are facing difficulties, which greatly reduces the positive effects of the integration of coal and electricity. Coal and electricity companies may make slight mistakes, which will have a very serious negative impact on national energy and power security. In this troubled season, choosing to merge coal and electricity has significantly increased the instability of the coal and thermal power markets.