Digital rendering of the world's first 300 MW compressed air energy storage project [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

To turn China's vision of carbon neutrality by 2060 into a reality, the country should speed up technological innovations in energy storage and accelerate its clean energy transition, said Song Hailiang, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee and chairman of China Energy Engineering Group.

China plans to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. As the source of roughly 90 percent of the country's greenhouse gas emissions, the energy sector is at the heart of the transition, for which long-duration energy storage technologies will prove critical.

China should use policy measures to support key State-owned enterprises in their research and development of advanced technologies, key equipment and core materials for energy storage, Song said. It should also step up support to facilitate wider industrial applications of such technological innovations.

He added that there is an urgent need to improve the country's energy storage policy, tackle key issues of core technologies and their standard system, and form a stable business model, so that a mature and integrated solution for new energy storage can be established as soon as possible.

The latest data from the National Energy Administration showed that as of the end of 2022, the installed capacity of new energy storage projects put into operation nationwide had reached about 8.7 million kW, with an average energy storage time of about 2.1 hours, an increase of over 110 percent from the end of 2021.

Song also suggested that China should accelerate the green transformation of its coal-generated electricity. More efforts should be made to coordinate the planning of coal power plants, improve the long-term market mechanism for coal power, and vigorously promote technological innovations and energy efficiency in the sector, he said.