Thomas Yuan, Founder & Chairman of AlphaESS places special emphasis in his talk at BNEF Summit 2019

The temperature drop earlier this week was chilling, but in the conference hall of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel located in the Lujiazui International Financial Center, the exchange of topics on the world's energy storage industry is in full swing. The BNEF summit 2019 brought together top research results from BloombergNEF. Participants may potentially influence or even determine the development status of the entire world's energy storage industry to a large extent.

The BNEF Summit provides the ideas, insights and connections to formulate successful strategies, capitalize on technological change and shape a cleaner, more competitive future. Mr. Thomas Yuan, the founder and chairman of AlphaESS, was invited to attend the panel discussion on topic of [Energy Storage and Supply Chain-How to Prepare for an Emerging Energy Storage Market?]

The energy storage market is growing rapidly, although from a low base. As it moves to center stage, it is attracting interest from a wide range of companies across the competitive landscape. The market is however much more scattered than its automotive counterpart. Drivers are often local. There are more technologies vying for attention. Safety remains a concern. China has the world's largest battery manufacturing capacity. Chinese players have yet though to demonstrate their competitiveness in the global energy storage market. In this session we will explore whether it is likely to change in the near-term. How do the batteries used in energy storage differ to those adopted by the automotive industry, if at all? Will used automotive batteries flood the stationary storage market? How will companies deal with the inherent uncertainties of this emerging space?

 In this session, the moderator and 4 representatives of the Chinese energy storage industry discussed the actual situation, strengths and weaknesses of their respective companies, and how to deal with many uncertain factors in the process of entering the emerging market of energy storage.

At the beginning of its establishment, AlphaESS focused on overseas markets. In 7 years, the company's development from obscurity to occupying a position in the energy storage industry is not based on luck, but on the precise prediction of the market and the rapid growth of the industry, and the brought by the cost drop of lithium batteries.

In 2018, the South Australian government launched a series of battery projects, the most important of which is the "Home Battery Plan" (HBS), which will provide a $ 100 million subsidy to help 40,000 homes install energy storage systems. AlphaESS and Sonnen were the only two energy storage system suppliers in the exclusive phase.

In Mr. Yuan's opinion, the core issue is the supply of lithium batteries. He said: "For the energy storage industry, whether it is PV, inverters, etc., you need someone who is expert in the lithium battery industry. It happens that members of our team come from battery companies. As a partner, EVE Lithium has played a considerable role in the company's lithium battery technology and supply chain system. "

With its high energy density and long cycle life, lithium batteries are the first to be widely used in 3C digital fields such as mobile phones and laptops. In recent years, the global greenhouse effect has become increasingly prominent. Governments around the world have increased their emphasis on renewable energy. With the strong support of policies, the global new energy vehicle market has also entered a rapid development phase, which has driven the rapid growth of the global lithium-ion battery market.  

"We have witnessed the rapid development of the lithium battery industry from a seller's market to a buyer's market. The fluctuations and cold winters in the residential market over the past two years have only been temporary," said Mr. Yuan, optimistic about the prospects of the domestic energy storage industry.

Since its establishment, AlphaESSs' products have been exported to more than 50 countries and regions in the world, including the United States and Japan which are on the radar of AlphaESS. Mr. Yuan commentated that the rapid development of AlphaESS is not dependent on state subsidies, "Australia and Germany have subsidized in recent years, but the driving force of these markets is not entirely relying on subsidy. In fact, it is more because of the economic returns brought by the rapid decline in the cost of the entire system or battery. As an enterprise, our products and service strength and our brand influence are the very key elements.

"From our observations for so many years, whether its areas without electricity, diesel generator markets, micro-grid, or high-priced areas in developed countries, these markets will not be limited in the next decade." Mr. Yuan shared his thoughts, "The residential PV storage and wind storage companies are still in a wait-and-see state and are still hesitant about the 14th Five-Year Plan. I would say it is better to go explore together and divide this international market."

AlphaESS has now set sail and in the foreseeable future, we will continue to show our strength in the residential and industrial and commercial energy storage markets, compete with brands from all over the world, learn from each other, benefit each other and make progress together!