The global energy revolution enters the deep water zone in 2025. Imposing the "dual carbon" goal on one side and the frequent impact of the power system by extreme weather on the other, ensuring energy security and green transformation has been the common concern of all countries. In China, microgrids - small-scale energy systems that were once "edge technologies" - are making the leap from policy designs to reality at a breakneck speed, becoming a "key pawn" in the new power framework.
2024 can be called the policy breakthrough year of China's microgrid:
In March, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the "Guiding Opinions on the High-quality Development of Distribution Networks under the New Situation", which explicitly called for the first time "promoting the construction of micro-grids and improving independent peak load capacity";
In May, The State Council's "Energy Conservation and carbon Reduction Action Plan" incorporated the coupling of micro-grid and virtual power plant and vehicle network as "new technology and new model", and proposed that by 2025, the newly installed capacity of energy storage exceeded 40 million kilowatts;
The core document "Opinions on Accelerating the Comprehensive Green Transformation of Economic and Social Development" in August further required "accelerating the construction of micro-grid and source network load and storage integration projects."
Behind the concentrated landing of policies, the contradiction between the supply and demand of energy has been intensified. For example, Nanjing Pukou will build 24 "light storage, charge, discharge and inspection" microgrid demonstration stations in 2025, which is expected to reach 3.5 million degrees of annual charging and reduce carbon emissions by 2,850 tons. This "spontaneous self-use, surplus electricity online" model is moving from pilot to large-scale replication.
The innovation of microgrids is directly linked to disruptive technological innovation:
Intelligent management: The intelligent microgrid solution launched by Caihongjin and other enterprises realizes the collaborative optimization of the whole link of "source, network, load, storage and charge" through AI algorithm, and the energy consumption efficiency is increased by 30%. Canaan Intelligent applies the technology of the Internet of Things to interconnect intelligent meters with energy storage devices for building a real-time energy dispatching network.
Multi-energy integration: The traditional microgrid is photovoltaic-dominant, and the hybrid mode of "photovoltaic + wind power + hydrogen energy + energy storage" is the direction. For example, the Nanjing Chengxichang Station optical storage and charging project integrates distributed photovoltaic, cascade battery energy storage and electric vehicle charging and discharging to realize the optimal efficiency of energy use;
Hardware innovation: a new generation of ultra-high-speed charging equipment, liquid-cooled supercharging technology has been landed, the life of the energy storage system has reached more than 6,000 cycles, and the cost is 40% lower compared to five years ago.
These technological breakthroughs have taken the microgrid from "guaranteed power supply" to "optimal power consumption." Intelligent microgrids in a Zhejiang province industrial park have saved enterprises more than 20% by dynamically optimizing peak-valley electricity pricing mechanisms.
Microgrid applications have long overcome the limitations of power supply in remote areas and entered a broader field:
Resilient urban power grid: In the face of extreme weather, Shanghai Pudong pilot "micro-grid cluster", distributed energy storage for 72 hours of uninterrupted power supply for the key facilities;
Zero carbon community: Canaan Smart in Zhejiang to create a zero carbon community, the use of rooftop photovoltaic + home energy storage + smart meter, residential self-sufficiency rate of electricity over 70%, surplus electricity can also participate in the grid peak load profit;
Transportation and energy revolution: Nanjing's Pukou "light storage and charging" demonstration station combines bus charging piles with photovoltaic ceilings, and cuts down 1,140 tons of standard coal per station, serving as a model for transportation carbon reduction.
More importantly is business model innovation. Microgrid operators can participate in power grid peak regulation through "demand response" under the background of the opening of the power spot market, and more than 200 industrial and commercial users in Jiangsu will enjoy the price difference through microgrid in 2024 alone.
Despite the promising outlook, microgrids have yet to break through a triple hurdle:
Lack of technical standards: poor compatibility among devices of different manufacturers, with prohibitive system integration costs;
Long investment return cycle: individual project investment in industrial and commercial microgrid of about 10 million yuan, with a return period of generally more than 5 years;
Increasing market competition: Guodian Nanrui, Schneider, and other giants accelerate the layout, and small and medium-sized manufacturers face pressure to survive.
But the market potential is still attractive - just China 10kV and above industrial and commercial users micro-grid transformation demand, the potential market size of 20 trillion yuan 5. With policies still continuously increasing (e.g., the State Grid will invest more than 650 billion yuan before 2025), and new technological breakthroughs such as sodium-ion batteries and hydrogen energy storage, microgrids can expect explosive growth in 2025-2030.
From "landscape storage" base stations in the Gobi Desert to smart electricity grids in urban neighborhoods, microgrids are rewriting the rules of energy consumption and production. Not only a laboratory for technological innovation, but also a means for the democratization of energy - so that every factory, every building and even every home can be a "producer and consumer." To cite the National Development and Reform Commission: "New businesses such as microgrids and virtual power plants will supply green energy to Chinese-style modernisation."
This revolution is not one of booming machinery and searing flames, but one of pulsating digits of smart meters and the subtle conversion of rooftop photovoltaic panels. And yet it is these subtle forces that are writing a more sustainable energy future for humanity.
