Policy dividends boost China

Against the backdrop of global energy transition, energy storage technology, as one of the key technologies supporting large-scale access and efficient utilization of renewable energy, is ushering in unprecedented development opportunities. In this wave, China's energy storage industry has taken the lead globally with strategic support at the national level and a series of policy dividends.

In recent years, the Chinese government has attached great importance to the development of the energy storage industry, continuously improving the policy system of the energy storage industry from top-level design to specific policy measures. In 2021, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Development of New Energy Storage", which clarified the ambitious goal of achieving a new energy storage installed capacity of 30 gigawatts (GW) by 2025. The introduction of this top-level design has pointed out the direction for the development of China's energy storage industry and provided important basis for the formulation of subsequent policy measures.

In terms of fiscal incentives, many Chinese governments have introduced subsidy policies to support the construction and operation of energy storage power stations with real money and silver. For example, Shandong Province provides a compensation of 0.2 yuan/kilowatt hour (kWh) for independent energy storage power stations based on their discharge capacity, which greatly stimulates the enthusiasm of social capital to invest in energy storage power stations. Similar subsidy policies have blossomed throughout the country, providing strong financial support for the rapid development of the energy storage industry.

In addition to fiscal incentives, China has also actively explored and innovated in market mechanisms. The promotion of the pilot electricity spot market has provided a broad market space for energy storage power stations to participate in auxiliary services such as peak shaving and frequency regulation. At the same time, the gradual marketization of compensation standards for auxiliary services also enables energy storage power stations to obtain reasonable returns by providing high-quality services. The establishment and improvement of these market mechanisms have further enhanced the economic viability of energy storage power plants and laid a solid foundation for the sustainable development of the energy storage industry.

The continuous attacks of policy combinations have provided a clear growth path and broad development space for China's energy storage industry. Under the guidance of policies, capital and technology are accelerating their agglomeration towards the energy storage industry, promoting continuous innovation and industrial upgrading of energy storage technology. The energy storage industry in China has achieved a leapfrog development from scratch and from small to large in just a few years, and has the strength to compete on the same stage as the international advanced level.

Looking ahead, with the deepening of global energy transformation and the large-scale integration of renewable energy, the energy storage industry will usher in broader development prospects. China's energy storage industry will continue to leverage its policy driven advantages, continuously improve its policy system and market mechanisms, attract more capital and technology to enter the energy storage field, and promote continuous innovation and industrial upgrading of energy storage technology. I believe that in the near future, China's energy storage industry will play a more important role on the global energy stage and make greater contributions to the sustainable development of human society.