HuaJin Securities: New energy storage special plan + implementation of new consumption policy, the energy storage industry is expected to become a new growth pole

According to the Zhitong Finance APP, Huajin Securities released a research report stating that recently, the new energy storage special plan and consumption policy have been implemented, clearly requiring "technology breakthroughs to drive large-scale applications" to solve the pain points of new energy storage development. Innovative multi-scenario application models focus on industrial parks, computing power facilities, and other scenarios to release the diverse value of new energy storage. In addition, under the background of large-scale application of AI technology, large-scale energy storage and other uninterruptible power supply systems have become a "new necessity" to ensure the power supply of zero-carbon data centers. The energy storage industry is also expected to become a new growth pole in the renewable energy sector, attracting more social capital investment.

The main viewpoints of Huajin Securities are as follows:

Event

On September 12, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration issued a notice on the "Special Action Plan for Large-scale Construction of New Energy Storage (2025-2027)" (hereinafter referred to as "the Plan"). The action plan mainly involves overall goals, application scenarios, utilization levels, innovative integration, standard systems, market mechanisms, and other aspects. The action plan points out that by 2027, the installed capacity of new energy storage nationwide will reach over 180 million kilowatts, driving direct investment of about 250 billion yuan. The technical route for new energy storage will still focus on lithium-ion battery storage, with various technical routes and application scenarios further enriched, cultivating a batch of pilot application projects and creating a number of typical application scenarios.

On September 12, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration issued a notice on improving the pricing mechanism to promote the nearby consumption of renewable energy generation (Development and Reform Price [2025] No. 1192) (hereinafter referred to as "the Notice"). The document clarifies that the power sources for nearby consumption projects should connect to the user side at the property boundary point of users and the public grid, with the annual self-generated and self-used electricity from renewable energy accounting for no less than 60% of the total available power generation, and no less than 30% of the total electricity consumption, with new projects starting from 2030 accounting for no less than 35%.

Focusing on technological breakthroughs to solve the pain points of new energy storage development.

New energy storage is a "necessity" for building a new power system, but it still faces four major pain points: "high cost, short lifespan, poor scene adaptability, and safety concerns." The Plan addresses these pain points, clearly requiring "technology breakthroughs to drive large-scale applications," with a focus on long-duration energy storage technology to solve the "intermittency" problem of wind and solar power, listing long-duration energy storage ≥8 hours technology as a key focus, covering new liquid flow batteries, compressed air energy storage, gravity energy storage, etc.; high safety technology to alleviate "energy storage fire" anxiety, requiring the establishment of a full lifecycle safety management system, promoting the development of inherently safe materials, intelligent monitoring and early warning technologies, and efficient firefighting and isolation technologies; intelligent and digital technologies to improve system efficiency, promoting deep collaboration between energy storage, renewable energy, the grid, and loads, requiring breakthroughs in digital twin technology, AI scheduling algorithms, and integrated control technology for source, grid, load, and storage; resource recycling technology to reduce overall cycle costs, emphasizing the improvement of battery recycling and utilization systems as early energy storage batteries gradually retire, focusing on the development of cascade utilization technology, efficient disassembly and regeneration technology, and material regeneration processes.

Multi-dimensional expansion of application scenarios to release the diverse value of new energy storage. The "Plan" promotes the application of energy storage on the power supply side, advancing the planning and construction of new energy storage in new energy bases such as deserts, Gobi, and wastelands, as well as retired thermal power plant sites. It facilitates the joint operation of new energy power stations with newly built energy storage systems and studies the joint operation of coal power groups with various new energy storage projects. It expands the application of energy storage on the grid side, constructing independent energy storage stations at key grid nodes, accelerating the demonstration application of grid-connected energy storage, and promoting new energy storage and grid-replacement energy storage in distribution networks. It innovates multi-scenario application models, focusing on industrial parks, computing power facilities, etc., creating application models such as green electricity direct connection and virtual power plants, and studying new types of energy participation in demand response. It cultivates pilot application scenarios, relying on cutting-edge technology to innovate "artificial intelligence+" application scenarios. At the same time, it promotes the utilization of new energy storage to enhance water efficiency and innovates control methods; it reasonably improves the calling level and optimizes the sequence of resource calls; it enhances scheduling adaptability, requiring new energy storage stations to meet operational requirements, possess adjustment capabilities, and standardize system configuration. The "Notice" focuses on green electricity direct connection, zero-carbon parks, and integrated source-grid-load-storage models for nearby consumption, clarifying that projects must meet conditions such as clear interfaces, accurate measurement, and compliance with new energy generation ratios, with the public grid ensuring power supply according to grid capacity.

Supporting energy security and model innovation, new energy storage becomes a "new necessity" for data center power supply.

Data centers are major energy consumers, with the total electricity consumption of the IDC industry expected to be around 200 billion kilowatt-hours in 2025. With the large-scale application of AI technology, this figure is expected to continue to rise. In addition to high electricity consumption, data centers also have very high requirements for power supply reliability and power quality. Against this backdrop, large-scale energy storage and uninterruptible power supply systems have become a "new necessity" for ensuring the power supply of zero-carbon data centers. The implementation of the "Plan" will initially establish a "diverse energy storage system that adapts to the stable operation of the new power system," promoting the rapid development of new energy organization models such as wind-solar-storage integration, microgrids, and virtual power plants. The "Notice" clarifies that the public grid ensures power supply according to grid connection capacity, providing a policy basis for data centers to enhance the proportion of new energy consumption and ensure power supply stability through the configuration of new energy storage and participation in green electricity direct connection models, promoting the coordinated development of data centers and new energy storage in nearby consumption scenarios.

Improving the pricing mechanism to support the development of new energy storage and new energy.

To better adapt new energy storage to the construction of a unified national electricity market, the "Action Plan" promotes "new energy + storage" as a unified bidding entity to participate in electricity market transactions, encouraging regions to explore auxiliary service varieties such as ramping and inertia according to local conditions, and promoting the improvement of pricing mechanisms for new energy storage and other adjustment resources. It proposes directions for accelerating the improvement of market mechanisms. At the same time, it requires localities to accelerate the construction of medium- and long-term electricity and spot markets, improve the market price formation mechanism, and promote the reasonable formation of charging and discharging prices for new energy storage. In addition, the "Notice" clarifies that for nearby consumption projects, transmission and distribution fees are charged based on capacity (demand), and the electricity quantity going offline is no longer subject to system reserve fees or electricity fees in the transmission and distribution stages. The monthly capacity (demand) fee calculation method is: capacity (demand) fee = capacity (demand) fee paid according to current policies + current electricity price standard for the voltage level × average load rate × 730 hours × capacity connected to the public grid When the project uses the public power grid, it is regarded as a commercial user. For now, the system operation fee will be paid based on the amount of electricity consumed from the grid, gradually transitioning to a payment method based on capacity usage; the policy cross-subsidy for self-generated and self-used electricity will be temporarily exempted from new gains and losses. According to the improved pricing mechanism, the smaller the grid connection capacity for nearby consumption projects, the less the stable supply guarantee fee that needs to be paid. This will effectively guide projects to enhance their balancing capabilities and reduce system adjustment pressure by exploring flexible adjustment capabilities and autonomously configuring energy storage.

Investment Suggestions: The energy storage industry is also expected to become a new growth pole in the renewable energy sector, attracting more social capital investment. We are optimistic about new energy storage technology breakthroughs and recommend focusing on industry leaders such as Sungrow Power Supply, Deye Technology, Sineng, and YN Tech; overseas expansion companies like HIBOR, GoodWe, and Canadian Solar; we also suggest paying attention to companies in the lithium battery supply chain, such as CATL and EVE Energy. Additionally, we continue to be optimistic about the major trend of data center computing power and electricity synergy, recommending attention to ZHONHEN, Hopewind, Blue Lithium Core, and Kehua Data; we are optimistic about companies involved in the development and supply of metering devices, power forecasting, and grid connection equipment for nearby consumption projects, such as NARI-TECH, Guoneng Rixin, Zeyu Intelligent, Chint Electric, and SOJO.

Risk Warning: Policy implementation may fall short of expectations; industry competition may intensify; technological breakthroughs may not meet expectations