State Grid Corporation of China

China’s largest state-owned grid operator and power utility plans to deploy the world’s biggest battery fleet and almost quadruple its pumped hydro storage by 2030, thus supporting the nation’s switch to renewable energy sources.

The nation is set to have added 40 GW of solar in 2020 and that figure will rise again this year, to 45-50 GW, according to one of the year’s first industry predictions.

PV manufacturers unable to live with proposed new quality guidelines and project developers alike are set to be squeezed out by the state in the world’s biggest solar market, according to Frank Haugwitz, who has compiled a market update as preparations for the next five-year plan gather pace.

After managing to bear down on costs enough to compete with coal-fired generation, it appears solar developers in China now face a new hurdle to overcome – resistance from grid companies.

Bailed-out solar project company Panda Green revealed it did not set any terms for repayment of RMB1 billion paid to third parties in 2017 as deposits to secure potential project rights.

The coronavirus outbreak in China could raise solar module prices in the near term as manufacturers have already begun experiencing wafer and solar glass shortages. Production rates are also being affected by an extended new year holiday introduced by the authorities as a measure to deal with the virus, and the requirement workers from infected areas quarantine themselves for two weeks.

The showpiece 3.6 GW Fengning county project which will offer grid services and back-up power at the 2022 Winter Olympics is part of a 31.15 GW construction pipeline of projects, many of which are set to come into service next year.

The world’s biggest solar market could be about to replicate that feat in energy storage, provided it manages to reform the payment system for rewarding the grid services offered by batteries.

Open-source blockchain platform Energy Web Foundation has revealed the number of its affiliates has risen from 37 to 100 in recent months. New members include EnBW, Total and a unit of the State Grid Corporation of China. The platform was conceived to create an energy-blockchain ecosystem and to accelerate the energy transition.

The Chinese state-owned State Grid Corporation of China has been attempting to acquire a 20% stake in German transmission system operator, 50Hertz for some time now. After the intervention of Germany’s Federal Government, however, this share will now go to domestic development bank, KfW.