(Yicai) Jan. 8 -- Some 16 energy storage projects were registered in China’s southern Guangdong province in the first five days of the year, four times that of the same period last year, as the country’s biggest provincial economy aims to cement its position in the burgeoning sector. 

Sixteen energy storage projects, mainly for lithium batteries, were filed on Guangdong’s Online Examination and Approval Supervision Platform for Investment Projects from Jan. 1 to Jan. 5, more than the 12 that were filed in the month of January last year. Over 90 percent of energy storage projects nationwide use lithium battery technology. 

And the amount of investment has increased substantially. The maximum investment for each project is CNY800 million (USD112.6 million), more than five times last year’s CNY150 million. 

In 2023, Guangdong province set a goal of initiating 30 energy storage projects with a combined investment of CNY24.8 billion (USD3.5 billion) and total installation capacity of 2.14 gigawatts, according to the 2023 New Energy Storage Major Application Scenario Opportunities List in Guangdong Province.

The province’s energy storage industry is expected to bring in revenue of CNY1 trillion (USD140.8 billion) by 2027, which is equivalent to one thirteenth of the province’s gross domestic product in 2022, according to a document released in March last year. 

And nationwide, the energy storage market is likely to be worth CNY1 trillion (USD140 billion) by 2030, industry insiders said. Nearly 30 provinces have rolled out plans for more than 60 million kilowatts of newly added energy storage projects as part of the country’s “14th Five-Year Plan,” which runs from 2021 to 2025. 

Supply Surplus 

As more energy storage projects come online, the number of companies in the field is also surging, leading to a danger of surplus supply. China had more than 150,000 energy storage firms as of Dec. 5 last year, according to corporate information provider Tianyancha. 

Due to the oversupply, the price of energy storage cells has halved since last year to around CNY0.40/Wh (USD0.06/Wh). Some companies have even lowered their price to CNY0.25/Wh (USD0.03/Wh), an industry insider told Yicai. 

The energy storage market will grow quickly over the next three years as the sector undergoes a reshuffle, and the density of the industry will also increase rapidly, said Tian Qingjun, senior vice president of green tech firm Envision Group. 

Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor