China Energy Construction Accelerates Expansion into Energy Storage Sector

In recent years, the energy storage market has rapidly emerged, with state-owned enterprises playing a crucial role. On one hand, they participate as project owners for energy storage projects, and on the other hand, they are accelerating their vertical integration within the energy storage industry chain. More and more state-owned enterprises are increasing their investments in the energy storage field, with China Energy Construction (CEC) being a notable leader. After winning over 6.8 GWh of bids in the first five months of this year, CEC initiated a large-scale energy storage procurement with a capacity of 25 GWh in June. They also invested 5 million yuan to establish a new company, China Energy Investment (Caoxian) New Energy Co., Ltd., which encompasses services in wind, solar, and energy storage technologies. Recently, CEC further intensified its commitment to energy storage by quietly establishing another new company in Qinghai: Qinghai Qingchu Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as ‘Qingchu Technology’), which focuses on core areas such as energy storage technology services, contract energy management, and wind power technology services. The main business of Qingchu Technology will focus on three directions: first, energy storage system integration and operation and maintenance, including applications of lithium-ion and flow batteries; second, energy efficiency optimization services to help companies reduce costs through contract energy management; and third, supporting renewable energy generation, particularly wind power, as Qinghai is rich in wind energy resources. Experts in the industry analyze that Qinghai Province has unique advantages with its abundant wind and solar resources, with new energy installations accounting for over 70%. The challenges of grid connectivity have created significant demand for energy storage, and CEC’s choice to establish the new company in Qinghai is an important strategy to concentrate resources and capture the energy storage market. Notably, CEC has more than twenty companies related to energy storage and has also established a dedicated energy storage cell manufacturing company, Zhongneng Ruixin. It is reported that in March this year, Zhongneng Ruixin successfully delivered its self-developed 314 Ah high-performance energy storage cells. Moreover, its production base in Xiamen is planning to achieve an annual production capacity of 30 GWh, with an initial investment of 1.9 billion yuan aimed at producing 5 GWh of lithium iron phosphate energy storage cells, with foundation construction already completed and trial production expected in the first quarter of 2026. Through intensive efforts in the energy storage field, CEC is demonstrating the strength of the 'national team' and signaling that state-owned energy enterprises are accelerating the autonomous manufacturing of large-capacity energy storage cells and systems. Earlier this year, CEC's Party Secretary and Chairman, Song Hailiang, stated in a media interview that 'new energy storage, renewable energy, and hydrogen energy are rapidly becoming CEC's core industries, core productivity, and core sources of profit.' According to data, in 2024, CEC's newly signed contracts are expected to reach approximately 1.41 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.75%. This includes new contracts worth approximately 555.34 billion yuan in new energy storage and wind power, accounting for about 39.4% of the total contracts, far exceeding the 312.97 billion yuan new contracts in traditional energy sectors. In the first half of 2025, CEC's newly signed contracts reached 775.36 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.98%, with new energy and comprehensive smart energy contracts totaling 330.17 billion yuan, an increase of 12.57%, accounting for 46% of engineering construction orders. Additionally, from January to June this year, a staggering 48,000 new companies related to energy storage were established nationwide, an 18% increase compared to the same period last year, averaging 270 new companies per day. The strong entry of state-owned enterprises with capital, projects, and resource advantages into the energy storage market will create a significant competitive edge, accelerating the elimination of small and medium-sized energy storage enterprises lacking core competitiveness and the phasing out of low-end, inefficient production capacity.