Yangzhou, East China's Jiangsu province, unveiled its first micro-grid charging station, a facility that combines solar carports, energy storage, charging piles and direct current charging/discharging capabilities.

Micro-grids are small-scale power systems made up of distributed energy sources, loads as well as energy storage, distribution and control systems. With capabilities of power generation, distribution and consumption, a micro-grid can efficiently optimize energy use within its network.

The Yangzhou micro-grid charging station, which recently began trial operations, is capable of simultaneously charging up to 22 vehicles, marking a significant step forward in the city's green energy infrastructure.

The station is equipped with two liquid-cooled ultrafast chargers and 20 direct current fast chargers. The ultrafast charger has a maximum power output of 480 kilowatts, making it eight to 10 times more efficient than standard fast chargers and capable of fully charging a vehicle in as little as 10 minutes. The site also includes a 200 kW energy storage system, expected to handle an annual energy transfer of 100,000 kilowatt-hours.

The site's energy storage system can prioritize using stored power during peak electricity usage times, thus reducing grid load levels, and storing electricity during off-peak times, which helps balance power demand. This approach not only stabilizes the integration of renewable energy into the grid, but also lowers the station's power costs, and ensures safe and stable site operations.

In recent years, the rapid growth of electric vehicles in China has significantly increased demand for charging infrastructure. The National Energy Administration said that by the end of June, the total number of charging piles in the country had reached 10.244 million units, a 54 percent year-on-year increase. Among these, 3.122 million were public chargers and 7.122 million were private chargers, meeting the charging needs of about 24 million new energy vehicles.

Zhang Xing, an NEA spokesperson, said at a recent news conference that China's charging network continues to expand, with efforts underway to increase the deployment of public charging piles in provinces including Jiangsu, Guangdong, Henan, Jiangxi, Sichuan and Guizhou.

Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association, said, "China's charging infrastructure has developed rapidly in recent years, establishing the world's largest, most extensive and most diverse charging network."

Minsheng Securities expects that by 2025, the domestic market for charging piles could exceed 300 billion yuan ($42 billion).

Cui said that despite the rapid growth of China's charging infrastructure sector, challenges remain, such as inadequate layout, unbalanced structure, outdated technology of older charging piles, uneven service quality and inconsistent operations.

He said leading operators in China's charging pile sector are performing well. For example, GAC Energy's charging piles averaged 5,671 kWh of electricity in terms of output in June, while NIO's charging piles reached around 6,500 kWh.

However, Cui said some older charging piles averaged only about 100 kWh per month, highlighting the need to further develop a high-quality charging infrastructure to support the rapid growth of NEVs, particularly by upgrading old low-power-output alternating current (AC) piles and increasing high-power-output direct current fast charging stations.

On the policy front, there has been some guidance to support the sector's high-quality development. In August, an action plan issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and two other departments called for expanding the EV charging infrastructure network and enhancing EVs' link with the power grid. The plan calls for fully utilizing EVs' energy storage function and innovating interactions between vehicles, piles, stations and grid networks.

Zhou Libo, deputy secretary-general of the electric transportation and energy storage branch of the China Electricity Council, said that the performance of power charging and swapping equipment needs to be improved, and further research is required in areas such as the power carrying capacity of distribution networks and the integration of solar power generation, power storage and charging processes.