China scraps energy storage mandate for renewable energy plants

China scraps energy storage mandate for renewable energy plants In a major policy shift toward electricity market liberalization, China has introduced contract-for-difference (CfD) auctions for renewable plants and removed the energy storage mandate, which has driven up to 75% of national demand to date. S&P Global expects the move to reverberate through the global battery storage supply chain, further driving down prices already at historic lows. March 17, 2025 Marija Maisch Distributed Storage Energy Storage Energy Storage Markets Markets & Policy Microgrid Minigrid Utility Scale Storage Asia China Image: China Three Gorges Share From ESS News New renewable energy plants in China will no longer be required to build storage in order to secure development rights and grid connection. Since introduced in 2022, policy mandates requiring solar and wind energy projects to include energy storage systems have been crucial in the acceleration of storage deployment in China. To date, more than 20 provinces have issued such mandates and some provincial governments have upped their mandatory ratios for energy storage projects to 20%, up from 10% a couple of years ago. These requirements have helped mitigate renewables curtailment in China. However, they have also increased operational costs for renewable energy projects, and many project owners have reported low utilization rates of their storage systems. To continue reading, please visit our ESS News website. This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com. Unlimited energy storage in Europe 14 March 2025 Most studies of European 100% renewable energy overlook pumped-hydro energy storage (PHES), for the following, incorrect, reasons: there are few PHES...