Zhu Gongshan: Energy Storage is the "Ballast" of the New Electric Power System
On October 31st, the "2023 International Energy Storage Technology and Equipment and Application (Shanghai) Conference and the 8th International Energy Storage Technology and Equipment and Application (Shanghai) Exhibition," along with the "6th (2023) International Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology and Equipment and Application (Shanghai) Conference and Exhibition," commenced on the banks of the Pujiang River.
Tang Wenkan, the Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Economic and Informatization Commission; Yuan Guohua, Deputy Secretary of the Party Working Committee of the Shanghai Lingang New Area, Secretary of the Party Committee, and Chairman of the Lingang Group; Jiang Lijun, Vice Chairman of the China Renewable Energy Society; Zhu Gongshan, Chairman of the Global Green Energy Industry Council (GGEIC), leader of the SNEC Photovoltaic Energy Storage and Hydrogen Industry Alliance, and Chairman of GCL Group, attended the conference and delivered speeches. More than 500 industry representatives, including energy storage and hydrogen energy experts, scholars, and entrepreneurs from around the world, participated in the conference.
During the main forum of the conference, Zhu Gongshan delivered a keynote speech titled "High-Quality Development of the Energy Storage Industry under the New Electric Power System."
Zhu Gongshan stated, "To achieve 'carbon peak' and 'carbon neutrality,' building a new type of electric power system is key, and energy storage will play an extremely important role in this system." He believes that the new power system opens up a broad space for new energy storage, which will reshape the physical form of the electric power system with "multi-end interaction and super integration." The resonance of domestic and foreign factors, as well as the industry, will promote energy storage to enter a long cycle of prosperity and a track of certainty.
"The energy storage industry showed explosive growth in the first half of 2023," Zhu Gongshan analyzed, pointing out that the current energy storage technology is blossoming and developing competitively, with different technological paths each focusing on long life, low cost, and high safety in their technological races. Data shows that in the first half of this year, the installed capacity of new energy storage accounted for one-third of the current cumulative installations, and the number of new energy storage projects in China (including planning, construction, and operational projects) reached 850, more than twice that of the same period last year.
"Prosperity comes with bubbles, and the concern of overcapacity is emerging," Zhu Gongshan candidly expressed. The industry background, development logic, and cycle laws of wind, solar, and hydrogen are basically similar. Rushing into the market, overzealous investment, supply and demand imbalance, overcapacity, and disorderly competition will bring phase-like fluctuations to the industry, affecting the high-quality development of the industry.
"The next stop after photovoltaic parity is energy storage parity, photovoltaic storage longevity, and photovoltaic hydrogen parity; only the specialized will survive." Facing the imminent reshuffle of the energy storage industry, Zhu Gongshan advocates for the industry to say goodbye to disorderly expansion, avoid vicious competition, and rationally plan to reduce low-end capacity. At the same time, focusing on materials, manufacturing, and application, he promotes the high-quality development of the new energy storage industry through "technological advancement, safety and stability, and economic applicability."
"In the future, energy storage will need 'three ends' to work together; a revolution at the material end driving a revolution at the manufacturing end will give birth to a diversified ecological scene at the application end." Zhu Gongshan analyzed the underlying logic of high-quality industrial development from the energy storage material end, manufacturing end, and application end, giving his judgment: "The energy storage market will continue to expand after the reshuffle and welcome an upward trend in prosperity during high-quality development."
It is understood that the event will last for 4 days, divided into two main parts: forums and exhibitions. The forum part includes a rich variety of content, including opening ceremonies, thematic forums, leader dialogues, financial summits, and frontiers of energy storage and hydrogen energy technology forums. The conference invites government leaders, international organization heads, academic experts, and industry leaders to discuss policy direction, cutting-edge technology, market trends, business models, and financing channels in the field of energy storage and hydrogen energy, promoting the establishment of a global standard system for energy storage & hydrogen energy technology and products. Meanwhile, the exhibition spans over 70,000 square meters, gathers more than 600 exhibitors from various countries and regions around the world, attracts 160,000 professional visitors, and draws the focus of nearly a hundred industry and mass media.
