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[Photo provided to China Daily]

Over the past few years, the energy storage industry in Haining, a county-level city of East China's Zhejiang province, has ushered in rapid development, significantly contributing to the stability of power supply amid cold weather.

By the end of last year, 101 energy storage projects had been completed and connected to the power grid in Haining, with a total installed capacity of over 100 megawatts.

"Almost every week there are new distributed energy storage projects that need to be connected to the power grid," said Hou Zihong, a staff member from the marketing department at State Grid's Haining power supply company.

Zhong Jiewen, deputy director of the company's marketing department, said the power supply company has developed a new system called "Chunengbao", which enables the accurate calculation of energy storage capacity and provides high-quality technical support for relevant projects.

Currently, the deployable energy storage in Haining is able to largely meet the surging power needs during the winter season, said Zhong.

As a high-tech industry with a promising future, energy storage plays a significant role in building a new electric power system, as well as in developing green and low-carbon energies. It is expected to help achieve the "dual carbon" goals and can serve as a fresh impetus for economic growth.

As the earliest county-level city in Zhejiang province to develop energy storage projects, Haining has always stayed at the forefront of the industry. In May 2021, Zhejiang province's first client-side "photovoltaic + energy storage" project was successfully launched here.

Haining has also issued several documents to regulate the whole process of carrying out energy storage projects and create a professional development plan, further promoting the rapid development of the industry.

Meanwhile, with an increasing number of manufacturers and aggregators gathering in the city, a complete industrial chain for energy storage is taking shape here.

Tiantong Youneng Technology Co Ltd, a manufacturer just established in May, said it sees great potential in Haining's energy storage industry. The company has set up a special production line and a new laboratory for energy storage projects in its semiconductor industrial park.

"Tiantong Youneng is currently participating in more than a dozen energy storage projects and expects to invest more in the manufacturing of relevant products," said Xu Yuefeng, head of the company's solution development division.

Zhejiang Tianlong Optoelectronics Technology Co Ltd, formerly a photovoltaic company, joined the ranks of energy storage aggregators in April.

Wang Xiaoyong, the company's deputy general manager, strongly recommended other companies to participate in the energy storage industry. "Energy storage is more profitable than traditional industries and the local government is providing strong support for us," said Wang.

China should ramp up efforts to promote technological innovation in the energy storage industry and increase the application scenarios of energy storage. Meanwhile, the country must keep an eye on the safety of relevant facilities and equipment including lithium-ion batteries, thus safeguarding national energy security, said Xu Ziming, director of Energy Efficiency and Energy Storage Division, Department of Science and Technology, National Energy Administration.

[Photo provided to China Daily]