Focus! 2023, the first year of energy storage in the industrial and commercial sector!

According to the National Energy Administration, as of the end of 2022, the installed capacity of new energy storage projects in China has reached 8.7 million kilowatts, with an average energy storage time of about 2.1 hours, an increase of over 110% compared to the end of 2021. 2022 is also known as the first year of China's energy storage industry.
From the distribution of application fields, in 2022, user side energy storage only accounted for 10% of the total grid connected volume, so we speculate that there will be relatively few industrial and commercial energy storage projects in China in 2022. However, after entering 2023, under the influence of several major factors, the industrial and commercial energy storage industry is facing explosive growth opportunities. We believe that 2023 will become the first year of China's industrial and commercial energy storage explosion!

01  Time of use electricity pricing mechanism, two charging and two discharging strategy
In January 2023, the National Development and Reform Commission issued a notice on further improving the proxy purchasing work of power grid enterprises, encouraging and supporting industrial and commercial users of 10kV and above to directly participate in the power market, gradually narrowing the scope of proxy purchasing users.
Under the current time of use electricity pricing mechanism, developed industrial and commercial provinces such as Zhejiang, Hunan, Hubei, Shanghai, Anhui, Guangdong, and Hainan have the conditions to achieve a strategy of two charging and two discharging through industrial and commercial energy storage during peak and valley electricity periods. Previously, many institutions had calculated this, with Zhejiang Province only needing 4.75 years to recover investment costs.
From the perspective of policy trends, multiple provinces in China have gradually opened up energy trading markets and promoted the formation of market-oriented mechanisms. This has played a positive role in further promoting the development of the industrial and commercial energy storage market, helping to attract more investment and capital into the industrial and commercial energy storage field, and improving the development speed and scale of the industry.
02   High power consumption supports the construction of energy storage in the industrial and commercial sectors
Looking back at the phenomenon of power supply and demand shortage that occurred again in multiple provinces in the summer of 2022, especially during the peak electricity consumption period when the power grid was under great pressure. Provinces such as Sichuan and Zhejiang have started to use electricity in an orderly manner, making the policy's judgment on the reasons for future power supply and demand and the tight pattern more profound.
Considering the instability and discontinuity of new energy generation, more and more industrial and commercial users need to install large-scale energy storage systems to balance the unstable energy supply and demand. The construction of industrial and commercial energy storage power stations can effectively help industrial and commercial users achieve the goals of peak shaving, valley filling, and staggered frequency regulation; It can provide flexible and efficient energy management solutions for industrial and commercial users, thereby reducing energy waste and cost expenditures.
Against the backdrop of the gradual dominance of new energy electricity, we firmly believe that industrial and commercial energy storage will explode with rapid growth in 2023 to meet the reliability, flexibility, and sustainability needs of the power system.
03   Industrial and commercial energy storage, the first year of 2023!
According to the electricity purchase price of the power grid in March 2023, the maximum peak valley electricity price difference in China has reached 1.34 yuan/kWh, and the number of provinces with the maximum peak valley price difference exceeding 0.7 yuan/kWh has reached 17. The peak valley electricity price difference is further widening;
Moreover, the prices of lithium battery raw materials such as lithium carbonate have further declined, and the cost of batteries continues to decline, leading to a decrease in the cost of industrial and commercial energy storage power stations;
There are also strong support policies from the government, such as tax policies, subsidy policies, and market access policies, which are gradually becoming clearer, encouraging industrial and commercial users to build energy storage power stations; Moreover, industrial and commercial energy storage power stations are innovating business models, such as combining with electric vehicle charging and swapping services, virtual power plants, etc., to improve the economic benefits and commercial feasibility of energy storage systems.
In summary, the prospects of China's industrial and commercial energy storage market are broad, and the industry will continue to maintain high-speed growth. With the rapid development of China's economy and the acceleration of the construction of integrated projects of source network, load and storage, the opportunity for the explosion of industrial and commercial energy storage has arrived.