China Energy Storage (Zhongchu Guoneng) Completes 320 Million Yuan Pre-A+ Round to Accelerate New Energy Storage Technology Layout

Recently, China Energy Storage and Power (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "China Energy Storage and Power") raised 320 million yuan in a Pre-A+ round led by Huakong Fund, with participation from Gaorong Ventures and other investors. Existing shareholders CASSTAR, CMB International, Legend Star, and Puhua Capital continued to increase their stakes in this round, while China Three Gorges Energy, Cuiwei Group, China-Belgium Fund, and Xinding Capital also participated.

A Global Leader in Large-Scale Compressed Air Energy Storage

Under the wave of carbon neutrality, energy storage is a key enabling technology for building a new power system with new energy as its mainstay. As the energy revolution progresses with new energy replacing traditional fossil fuels, energy storage will have enormous room for growth in the future. Compressed air energy storage (CAES) is a large-scale, long-duration energy storage and power generation technology with advantages including low cost, large scale, long lifespan, and environmental friendliness. It meets the needs of today's power systems and is one of the most promising large-scale energy storage technologies.

China Energy Storage and Power is a pioneer and leader in China's compressed air energy storage sector, holding an internationally leading position in large-scale CAES. Its core technology originates from the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), which was the earliest Chinese research institution to engage in large-scale compressed air energy storage technology R&D. It has successively developed and built the world's first 1.5MW, 10MW, and 100MW advanced compressed air energy storage demonstration systems, with performance metrics superior to international CAES systems of equivalent scale. The institute has obtained over 300 authorized patents (including 20 international patents) and published more than 400 papers, ranking first globally in patent count, SCI papers, and citations in the compressed air energy storage field.

In May 2022, the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS, and China Energy Storage and Power, as the developing units, were successfully selected for the "2021 First-of-Its-Kind Major Technical Equipment (Projects) in the Energy Sector" list published by the National Energy Administration — the only selected project in the compressed air field. The company's "100MW Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage Technology Industrialization" project team was awarded the "CAS Science and Technology Achievement Transformation in Beijing Special Prize."

Accelerating New Energy Storage Technology Industrial Layout and Commercialization Pace

While actively responding to the national call to increase R&D efforts for 100MW-class compressed air energy storage technology, the company is also actively exploring commercial development models, gradually reducing energy storage costs, and accelerating the industrial layout of new energy storage technologies.

On December 31, 2021, the "Zhangbei International First 100MW Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage National Demonstration Project" was successfully grid-connected and entered the live commissioning phase, further consolidating China's international leading position in this field. In April 2022, the "100MW-Class Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage System Equipment Manufacturing Project," a key project supported by the National Development and Reform Commission's "Renewable Energy Demonstration Zone Industrial Innovation Development Special Program," officially broke ground in Zhangjiakou. China Energy Storage and Power will thus gain large-scale mass production capabilities, accelerating its commercialization pace. Also in April 2022, three projects targeting even larger scale — including the "Shandong Feicheng 300MW/1800MWh Compressed Air Energy Storage Peak Shaving Power Station" — were successfully selected for Shandong Province's "2022 Major Energy Storage Demonstration Projects," with a combined capacity of 500MW.

Zhangbei International First 100MW Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage National Demonstration Project

Currently, the company's projects under construction and in planning exceed 2,000MW in total installed capacity. According to the "2021 Domestic Newly Installed Energy Storage Technology Provider Rankings" published by CNESA, China Energy Storage and Power ranked second nationally in new energy storage and first in the compressed air energy storage sector.

China Energy Storage and Power has always taken driving the advancement of the compressed air energy storage industry and practicing green, sustainable energy development strategies as its mission, leveraging its own advantages to fully support the achievement of "dual carbon" goals and the construction of new power systems, accelerating the industrialization, scaling, and commercialization of compressed air energy storage, and actively cultivating the vast new blue ocean of the energy storage industry.

Xin Wang, Managing Director at Gaorong Ventures, stated: "Energy storage is an essential technology against the backdrop of carbon neutrality. Compared to other new energy storage technologies, compressed air energy storage has advantages of low cost, large scale, long lifespan, and environmental friendliness, giving it a strong opportunity to capture a significant market share in the future energy storage market. The China Energy Storage and Power team is cohesive and combat-ready, with more than a decade of focused accumulation in the compressed air energy storage field, achieving world-leading technological breakthroughs with encouraging industrialization progress. We look forward to China Energy Storage and Power making even greater strides on the path to industrialization and contributing more to the carbon neutrality cause!"