"The company's photovoltaic business is still focused on the main industrial chain, and there is no plan to vigorously develop the energy storage business." On November 4, Tongwei Co., Ltd. (600438. SH) Chairman and CEO Liu Shuqi said at the company's performance briefing.

This is the second PV leader to announce that it will not invest in energy storage business for the time being at the performance briefing after the disclosure of the recent three quarterly reports, and a few days ago, LONGi Green Energy also said that there is no clear decision on energy storage.

Due to the need to ensure stable power supply in the large-scale access scenario of new energy, as well as the distribution and storage requirements led by centralized power stations, energy storage business has become one of the mainstream directions for PV enterprises to choose business extension. Several other companies that are also in the module camp have made layouts, such as JinkoSolar, JA Solar, Trina Solar, and Canadian Solar. As a rookie in the field of energy storage, JinkoSolar announced at the beginning of this year that it would strive to become the world's top three energy storage suppliers within 3 to 5 years, while Sungrow, which is engaged in inverter and energy storage business, has become the new "market value brother" of the photovoltaic sector this summer.

At a time when peers are making layouts and reaping profits, why can't the energy storage business impress LONGi Green Energy and Tongwei?

Why did LONGi Green Energy and Tongwei "refuse" electrochemical energy storage

At the performance briefing on November 4, Liu Shuqi proposed that Tongwei should not consider vigorously developing the energy storage business for the time being, but also recognized that the energy storage industry is an important part of the new energy field, and plays a vital role in balancing supply and demand, improving the stability of the power grid and promoting the use of renewable energy in the new power system.

A few days ago, at the performance briefing of LONGi Green Energy, Zhong Baoshen, chairman of the company, also said that in terms of new business, LONGi still firmly supports the development of hydrogen energy, and has also done a lot of accumulation in operation, which is an important business component of LONGi. In terms of energy storage, the company has not yet formed a clear decision, and it is still being discussed internally.

As for why LONGi Green Energy did not choose to do energy storage, the explanation given by the company at the performance briefing at the end of October last year was easier to understand. The company said at the time that in terms of electrochemical energy storage, compared with the leading companies in the field of electrochemical energy storage, the company may not be able to do better than the other party.

LONGi Green Energy further said at the time that electrochemical energy storage is a very flexible energy storage method, but in fact, energy storage includes many forms, and in the future energy system, different energy storage methods may be used in different scenarios. In fact, hydrogen energy is also a kind of energy storage in a broad sense, which is a way of energy storage and transportation across forms, seasons and regions.

In other words, LONGi Green Energy currently chooses hydrogen energy as a way to deploy energy storage. However, as far as industrial application is concerned, hydrogen energy still needs to be fully patient and abundant funds for entrants.

LONGi Green Energy previously said that the demand for green hydrogen, green ammonia, and green alcohol is increasing, and the annual growth rate is fast, but it has not yet reached the point of outbreak. First-mover markets such as shipping will drive further upstream demand. It is difficult to judge at what point in time these markets will explode, and it is estimated that by the end of 2025, the industrialization process may be clearer.

As for Tongwei shares, judging from public information, the company has no news about the layout of electrochemical energy storage and hydrogen energy.

An industry insider told Beike Finance that although Tongwei has not expanded its energy storage business at present, the company has realized the opening of the entire industrial chain from upstream polysilicon to downstream modules, which can ensure that the company can achieve profitability at any time in the industry cycle.

These PV companies have vigorously "embraced" energy storage to create a second growth curve

While LONGi Green Energy and Tongwei Co., Ltd. stated that they would not do energy storage, a number of leading photovoltaic companies are increasing their layout.

Trina Solar (688599. SH) disclosed on November 4 that the energy storage business grew rapidly in the first three quarters, with shipments exceeding 2.5GWh, a year-on-year growth rate of nearly 300%. "The integration of photovoltaic energy storage is an inevitable trend in the industry, and Trina is the most leading energy storage business among module manufacturers, and will firmly develop the energy storage sector in the future to create a second growth curve." At the same time, the company said that it is estimated that the energy storage sector will continue to grow at a high rate in the next few years, and will make efforts in overseas markets this year.

In 2015, Canadian Solar acquired Recurrent Energy, a U.S. energy storage subsidiary of Sharp, for 1.656 billion yuan, becoming the world's second largest solar photovoltaic power plant project development, construction operator and overall solution provider.

"The net profit of the energy storage segment achieved rapid growth compared with the second quarter, which made an outstanding contribution to the company's overall performance in the third quarter." Canadian Solar's third quarterly report shows that the company's large-scale energy storage product shipments reached 4.4GWh in the first three quarters of this year, of which 1.8GWh were shipped in the third quarter, and the shipments and unit net profit hit a record high in a single quarter.

JA Solar has also listed its energy storage business as one of the company's emerging smart energy businesses, which is an important deployment and extension of the "One Body, Two Wings" strategy, with specific products covering the power supply side, the grid side, and industrial, commercial and residential energy storage. The company recently mentioned in the investor exchange that it has daily business cooperation with CATL, the leading battery cell company, in energy storage products, and will continue to promote in-depth business cooperation.

JinkoSolar has also continued to increase its energy storage business in recent years, saying at the beginning of this year that it will make energy storage the second pillar of its future development and strive to become one of the world's top three energy storage providers within three to five years. According to JinkoSolar's interim report, it has achieved important results in the development of overseas energy storage markets in China and the Middle East, Australia, South Africa and other countries.

However, some industry insiders told the Shell financial reporter that the energy storage industry is as surplus and competitive as photovoltaics, and it is difficult to make money, and doing a good job in overseas markets is expected to bring greater opportunities.