Smart grid firms: Grid-forming tech to become standard within 3-5 years
Editorial responsibility
- No named human review is recorded for this page.
- Source reporting is collected, normalized, translated or condensed automatically when needed.
- Automatically published source-backed update
In a roundtable organized by the Shanghai Stock Exchange and China Business Journal, executives from three科创板-listed smart grid firms—Haibo Sichuang (688411.SH), Xinfengguang (688663.SH), and Zhiyang Innovation (688191.SH)—discussed the achievements, drivers, and future directions of China's new power grid construction. They highlighted that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, wind and solar combined capacity surpassed thermal power for the first time, and a 45-line ultra-high-voltage backbone grid was largely completed. Key drivers identified include the 'dual carbon' target for renewable integration, AI-driven compute power demand, and energy security strategy. Haibo's Zhang Jianhui noted that AI is deeply integrated into energy storage lifecycles, while Xinfengguang's Hu Shunquan said grid-forming technology will become standard within 3-5 years. Zhiyang's Nie Shugang emphasized that digitalization, energy storage, and compute-power integration are the three pillars of future grid development. The executives agreed China's comparative advantage lies in its combination of manufacturing scale, complete industrial chain, diverse application scenarios, and engineering capabilities.
Source report
By Sun Ruxiang & Xia Xin | China Business Journal
The third season of the Shanghai Stock Exchange–China Business Journal high-end interview program Shanghai Market·Hard Tech Guests recently invited three leading科创板 (Sci-Tech Innovation Board) enterprises in the new grid sector to discuss the roadmap for the "re-evolution" of smart grids following the "awakening of computing power."
Guests included:
- Zhang Jianhui, Chairman & General Manager, Haibo Sichuang (688411.SH)
- Hu Shunquan, Director & General Manager, Xinfengguang (688663.SH)
- Nie Shugang, Director & General Manager, Zhiyang Innovation (688191.SH)
- Su Chen, Director of the Research Institute, Guojin Securities (Lead Guest)
Key Achievements in New Grid Construction
Guests unanimously agreed that China's new grid construction achieved major milestones during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, including:
- Wind and solar combined installed capacity historically surpassed thermal power, becoming China's largest power source. New energy has truly transitioned from supplementary to primary energy.
- Ultra-high voltage (UHV) backbone grid largely took shape, marked by 45 UHV channels, over 60,000 km of operational lines, and a 340 GW "West-to-East Power Transmission" capacity, achieving a leap in cross-regional resource allocation.
- Grid operation mode accelerated from "source following load" to "source-grid-load-storage coordinated interaction." Technologies such as SVG and energy storage for new energy grid integration were fully deployed, while pumped storage and new-type energy storage scaled up rapidly, laying a solid technical and equipment foundation for the new power system.
Company-Level Breakthroughs
Zhang Jianhui (Haibo Sichuang):
- Energy density increased eightfold—a standard 20-foot container now stores 8,000 kWh.
- AI technology deeply integrated into the full lifecycle of energy storage.
- Application scenarios expanded via an "Energy Storage + X" strategy to independent storage, solar-storage integration, oil fields, mines, data centers, and charging stations.
Hu Shunquan (Xinfengguang):
- High-voltage reactive power compensation device SVG won the National Manufacturing单项冠军 (Single Champion) award and a second-class National Science and Technology Progress Award, with over 10,000 units deployed globally.
- 100 MW-level high-voltage cascade energy storage achieved large-scale deployment, with technology passing international leading-level certification.
- Developed a new-generation solid-state transformer (SST) in response to AI and computing-power synergy demands.
Nie Shugang (Zhiyang Innovation):
- Continuously participated in the transformation of grid operation and maintenance from manual inspection to online, digital, and intelligent modes.
- AI terminals applied across all voltage levels. Transmission solutions deployed on major projects including the "Ximeng–Shandong 1000kV UHV Line" and "Xiangjiaba–Shanghai ±800kV UHV DC Line."
- Built six coordinated technology platforms: one-stop AI platform, big data and digital twin platform, industrial large model, AI agent, intelligent terminal, and embodied intelligent drone platform.
Underlying Drivers
Su Chen identified three main drivers:
- Pressure to absorb new energy under the "dual carbon" goals.
- Computing power demand from the AI boom.
- Strategic energy autonomy amid geopolitical tensions.
Zhang Jianhui elaborated:
- Reducing dependence on foreign fossil fuels is the strategic foundation.
- "Dual carbon" goals and new energy absorption are the core thrust and most direct driver.
- Computing power demand is the key growth factor for the future. AI has made electricity a critical resource, and China is promoting "computing-power synergy" and "green power direct connection."
Hu Shunquan summarized:
- Strategic foundation: Energy autonomy.
- Current orders: Driven by new energy absorption.
- Future growth: Driven by computing power demand.
Nie Shugang added:
- Energy security is the base.
- New energy absorption is the current main line.
- Computing power demand is a rapidly rising new variable, with computing and power grids shifting from separate planning to coordinated synergy.
New Opportunities from New Demands
Zhang Jianhui predicted that during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period:
- Large-scale energy storage will be the immediate priority.
- Computing-power synergy will be the key growth pole with the greatest variability.
- Digitalization will serve as the foundational support.
Hu Shunquan noted:
- Energy storage scaling is far from its ceiling. Long-duration and grid-forming storage will move from pilot projects to industry standards during the "15th Five-Year Plan."
Nie Shugang emphasized:
- Digitalization is the basic capability of the new grid.
- Energy storage is a critical regulation resource.
- Computing-power synergy is a fast-growing new scenario.
- The new grid is a key part of China's "six networks" modern infrastructure system, which will increasingly emphasize data connectivity, resource coordination, and security across networks.
Technology Directions to Enhance Product Competitiveness
Zhang Jianhui:
- Deep integration of AI and energy storage is a highly certain direction that will deliver greater value in the next five years. Haibo Sichuang already applies AI across the full lifecycle of energy storage projects.
- New power electronics like solid-state transformers (SST) are also worth watching.
Hu Shunquan:
- Grid-forming technology has the highest certainty and may become standard in the new grid within 3–5 years. Grid-forming converters and storage can actively provide inertia and voltage support.
- SST is a next-generation core equipment, still in early commercialization but with increasing feasibility and certainty.
Nie Shugang:
- The future new grid will not be defined by a single technology but by three main lines: power electronics, operational digitalization, and intelligent decision-making.
China's Comparative Advantages Globally
Global competition in new grid technology has shifted from simple price competition to a comprehensive contest involving infrastructure investment rules, technical standards, and core equipment innovation.
Zhang Jianhui:
- China's advantage is not a single dimension of cost or scale, but a composite advantage combining large-scale manufacturing, a complete industrial chain, rich application scenarios, and extreme engineering practice capabilities.
Hu Shunquan:
- "China's new grid development is far ahead of the world." The core advantage is technology accumulated through scenario-driven demands. The most complex scenarios produce the most competitive technologies, and the most complete industrial chain supports cost, scale, and efficiency.
Nie Shugang:
- China's core advantage is systematic engineering capability formed by long-term stable national strategy, sustained engineering investment, ultra-large-scale application scenarios, and a complete industrial chain.
Source
贝果财经Eastern