For China's new energy industry, a familiar scene is playing out again.
On April 9, 2026, a symposium jointly convened by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the National Energy Administration brought the issue of internal competition in the power and energy storage battery industry back into the spotlight.
This is already the second high-level symposium held by relevant departments in this field this year.
During the meeting, it was stated that not only must &#34;unreasonable and unfair competition behaviors be resolutely resisted,&#34; but a series of hard measures were also proposed, including &#34;capacity warning regulation,&#34; &#34;standardizing price competition,&#34; &#34;compressing supplier payment terms,&#34; and even addressing the externalization of internal competition (i.e., bringing internal competition overseas).
Moreover, the meeting also discussed the issue of a negative behavior list for irrational competition.
Price wars, overcapacity, and high-pressure payment terms have deeply troubled China's wind power and photovoltaic industries in recent years. As one of the &#34;new three,&#34; the energy storage industry is also facing a test.
When the state personally intervenes to prevent internal competition in energy storage, what experiences and lessons can the winding paths of wind power and photovoltaics provide for the energy storage industry?
<h2>Energy Storage is Experiencing a Familiar Scene</h2>
The term &#34;internal competition&#34; has emerged as the energy storage industry enters a period of rapid expansion.
Just before the four departments held this symposium, the energy storage industry had just experienced a price drop. Data shows that the price of lithium iron phosphate battery cells fell from a high of 0.8 yuan/Wh in 2021 to as low as 0.24 yuan/Wh by mid-2025.
This chaotic competition at low prices stems from supply and demand relationships. Driven by the mandatory energy storage policy for new energy and the fervent pursuit of capital, the planned capacity for power and energy storage batteries in China once approached 5000GWh, while the actual output in 2025 was only 1755.6GWh, resulting in a capacity utilization rate of less than 40%.
This means that a large amount of social resources and factory equipment are idly spinning.
There is also the issue of product homogeneity. Due to a lack of disruptive innovation at the foundational level, the vast majority of companies are trapped on a single technological path of lithium iron phosphate, leading to highly similar products. To seize market share, companies can only compete by lowering prices. This competition inevitably brings industry problems:
Quality and safety hazards: When prices fall below costs, companies can only cut corners on raw materials to survive. The Energy Storage Leaders Alliance has pointed out that there have been significantly below-cost quotes and excessive commitments in the industry, which pose huge safety risks to end power stations.
Payment term &#34;dam&#34;: To compete for orders, companies have to accept payment cycles from owners that last 6 to 12 months or even longer. This method of maintaining cash flow by occupying upstream funds puts the entire supply chain on the brink of a financial break.
Externalization of internal competition: If domestic competition cannot be sustained, it shifts overseas. Some Chinese companies, when bidding overseas, directly lower prices on top of normal prices, which not only harms their own profits but also undermines the overall profitability and credibility of Chinese manufacturing in overseas markets.
It is against this backdrop of &#34;increased revenue without increased profits&#34; and disorder in the industry that the four state departments have decisively intervened
<h2>History of Involution in Photovoltaics and Wind Power</h2>
As pioneers of the new energy industry, the wind power and photovoltaic sectors have long been impacted by involution. Since 2023, the photovoltaic industry has fallen into losses across the board due to overcapacity, while the wind power industry faces issues such as price wars and project homogenization.
At the national level, a series of policy measures have been implemented to gradually help the industry out of its predicament, providing valuable lessons for the energy storage sector.
From the second half of 2023 to 2025, the photovoltaic industry has encountered severe involution. Component prices once fell below 0.6 yuan per watt, leading to widespread losses across the entire industry chain. In 2024, 31 A-share listed companies in the main photovoltaic industry chain reported a total net loss of 57.47 billion yuan, and losses are expected to remain close to 40 billion in 2025.
Issues such as low-level repeated construction, sales below cost, power mislabeling, and intellectual property infringement have frequently occurred, severely distorting market order.
In response, the national level has launched a &#34;combination punch&#34; to promote governance in the photovoltaic industry: In November 2025, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology revised the &#34;Regulatory Conditions for the Photovoltaic Manufacturing Industry,&#34; raising the capital ratio for new projects to 30%, guiding companies to reduce simple capacity expansion and shift towards technological innovation; in 2026, the Ministry further strengthened investment management for photovoltaic projects, using market-oriented methods to promote the exit of backward production capacity.
Additionally, the National Development and Reform Commission and five other departments held a symposium to clarify the crackdown on sales below cost, false marketing, and other behaviors, improving the price monitoring mechanism and focusing on companies with abnormal pricing.
In terms of technological innovation, companies are guided to shift from &#34;competing on scale and price&#34; to &#34;competing on technology and quality,&#34; focusing on breakthroughs in high-efficiency batteries and low-cost manufacturing, promoting the industry's transformation towards &#34;energy efficiency leadership + technology-driven.&#34;
In terms of industry consolidation, the industry and market are pushing for mergers and acquisitions to increase industry concentration. Since 2024, over 40 photovoltaic companies have been delisted, gone bankrupt, or been restructured.
After more than a year of governance, the photovoltaic industry is gradually recovering. In July 2025, the price of polysilicon rebounded to 45,000-50,000 yuan per ton, and the average price of component centralized procurement rebounded to around 0.7 yuan per watt. The disorderly expansion of industry capacity has been curbed, companies are beginning to increase R&amp;D investment, and high-efficiency battery technology is accelerating industrialization, laying the foundation for high-quality development in the industry.
The wind power industry has developed relatively steadily, with the degree of involution not as severe as that of photovoltaics, but issues are still prominent.
Firstly, there is overcapacity, with the capacity utilization rate in the wind turbine manufacturing segment being less than 60%, making survival difficult for some small and medium-sized enterprises; secondly, there is low-price competition, with bidding prices for wind turbine projects repeatedly hitting new lows, resulting in thin profits for companies; thirdly, project homogenization, with similar site selection and model choices for wind farms leading to resource waste and increased wind abandonment rates; fourthly, insufficient collaboration in the industry chain, with reliance on imports for core components, highlighting the constraints faced.
In terms of involution governance, the industry is optimizing capacity layout, guiding wind power projects to concentrate in resource-rich areas based on wind energy resource endowments, avoiding blind development, and improving resource utilization efficiency; focusing on breakthroughs in large wind turbines, offshore wind power, and intelligent operation and maintenance to enhance product competitiveness and reduce low-price competition
In improving market mechanisms, promote the parity of wind power grid connection, improve the electricity spot market and auxiliary service market, ensure project returns, and guide enterprises to shift from &#34;competing on price&#34; to &#34;competing on value&#34;; increase investment in the research and development of core components, promote coordinated development of the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, and reduce external dependence.
<h2>How can energy storage &#34;avoid pitfalls&#34; of internal competition?</h2>
The energy storage industry is at a critical development stage, and if corrective measures are not taken in time, it may repeat the mistakes of the photovoltaic and wind power industries.
Overcapacity is the root cause of internal competition, and a full-chain capacity monitoring and regulation mechanism needs to be established to curb disorderly expansion from the source. All parties need to make efforts in this regard.
For example, relying on industry associations and third-party organizations, establish a capacity monitoring platform for the entire energy storage industry chain, tracking real-time data on core links such as battery cells, positive and negative electrode materials, electrolytes, and separators, and regularly publish capacity warning reports.
For links with a capacity utilization rate below 70%, timely warnings should be issued to guide enterprises to rationally expand production. Differentiate between &#34;advanced capacity&#34; and &#34;backward capacity,&#34; and open green channels for advanced capacities such as efficient batteries and long-duration energy storage to support technological upgrades.
For low-efficiency and high-energy consumption capacities, strictly limit new projects and promote the orderly exit of backward capacities. Referencing the photovoltaic industry experience, increase the capital ratio for energy storage projects and standardize enterprise investment behavior.
In terms of the market, expand domestic application scenarios, promote energy storage participation in the electricity spot market and auxiliary service market, and expand effective demand; regulate the export order of overseas markets to avoid externalized internal competition, guiding enterprises to participate in international competition in an orderly manner.
Price wars are the core manifestation of internal competition, and it is necessary to curb vicious low-price competition through policy regulation and industry self-discipline, promoting prices to return to a reasonable range. The practices of the photovoltaic industry can be referenced to formulate cost accounting guidelines for energy storage products, clarify price bottom lines, and combat improper pricing behavior.
Another important point is the constraints on demand-side entities, guiding grid companies and investors in energy storage project procurement to no longer use price as the sole criterion, but to comprehensively consider product performance, cycle life, safety assurance, after-sales service, and establish a comprehensive evaluation system of &#34;quality + price.&#34;
For products that meet high safety and long-life standards, price incentives should be provided to encourage enterprises to improve product quality.
The role of associations cannot be ignored either. Organizations such as the China Battery Industry Association and the Zhongguancun Energy Storage Industry Technology Alliance can play a role in formulating self-discipline agreements for energy storage industry pricing, guiding enterprises to quote rationally. Promote leading enterprises to take the lead in fulfilling self-discipline obligations, avoid vicious price wars, and maintain the overall interests of the industry.
The fundamental path to resolving internal competition is to promote technological innovation, transforming from &#34;homogeneous competition&#34; to &#34;differentiated competition,&#34; and building technological barriers in the industry. Guide enterprises to layout diversified technological routes to avoid internal competition within a single lithium-ion battery technology route. Support the industrialization of technologies such as flow batteries, compressed air energy storage, and hydrogen storage, forming a technological pattern of &#34;diversified complementarity and coordinated development.&#34;
At the same time, accelerate the construction of the energy storage standard system, standardize product standards for different technological routes, and provide guarantees for technological innovation
The lack of synergy in the industrial chain is an important driver of internal competition. It is necessary to build a &#34;mutually beneficial, win-win, stable and controllable&#34; supply chain ecosystem, alleviate payment pressure, and enhance the resilience of the industrial chain. Establish a risk early warning mechanism for the energy storage supply chain, focusing on the supply risks of key materials and core equipment, and promote a self-controllable supply chain.
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
The high-quality development of the new energy industry should not be about &#34;lower prices,&#34; but rather &#34;higher value&#34; and &#34;healthier ecology.&#34;
For the energy storage industry, the path taken by wind and solar power serves as both a cautionary tale and a valuable asset. Currently, the industry is at a critical juncture, transitioning from rapid development to high-quality development. Addressing internal competition is not only an inherent requirement for the sustainable development of the industry but also an important measure for the country to promote the healthy development of strategic emerging industries.
In the future, as policy dividends continue to be released, market mechanisms are continuously improved, and technological innovations accelerate breakthroughs, the energy storage industry will become one of the &#34;innovation high grounds&#34; and &#34;value benchmarks&#34; in the global new energy industry, providing solid support for China's energy transition and the achievement of the &#34;dual carbon&#34; goals.
The &#34;tuition fees&#34; paid by wind and solar power must be learned by the energy storage sector this time.
Source of Information:
<ul>
<li>&#34;The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and four other departments held a symposium for enterprises in the power and energy storage battery industry,&#34; China Government Network</li>
<li>&#34;The energy storage industry returns to high prosperity,&#34; Xinhua News</li>
<li>&#34;Six departments join forces to rectify the 'internal competition' chaos in photovoltaics,&#34; People's Daily</li>
<li>&#34;The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and eight departments jointly issued the 'Action Plan for High-Quality Development of New Energy Storage Manufacturing Industry',&#34; China Industry and Information Technology News</li>
<li>&#34;2026 Strategy Report for the New Energy Power Generation Industry: Photovoltaics Await Supply Reconstruction, Wind Power Whole Machine Main Line Expected,&#34; Ping An Securities</li>
</ul>

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China's new energy industry is facing issues of internal competition. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and three other departments held a symposium, emphasizing the need to resist unreasonable competition and proposing measures such as capacity warnings and regulating price competition. The energy storage industry is experiencing rapid expansion with price reductions; the price of lithium iron phosphate battery cells has significantly dropped, leading to a capacity utilization rate of less than 40%. There is severe homogenization, and companies are competing through price reductions, which brings quality and safety risks

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The country is entering a phase of anti-energy storage competition, and the "tuition fees" for wind and solar power cannot be paid in vain