Local units spur innovation to improve services, ensure supply

China, now home to more than 16 million new energy vehicles, is seeing a stronger domestic uptrend in the installation of charging piles as the nation's NEV sector booms amid its nationwide green transformation.

State Grid Corp's Laiwu branch in Jinan, Shandong province, is among the local power suppliers that are revving up efforts to facilitate the charging process for electric vehicles.

With a slew of positive actions such as advancing charging infrastructure, building information-sharing platforms and improving maintenance services, the company has seen its efforts to this end bear fruit.

Thanks to such efforts, EV owners in Jinan's Laiwu district are now able to apply for the installation of charging piles in their residential compound with "remarkable speed and convenience".

"With the initial joint efforts by authorities and builders that promote charging accessibility and the establishment of a parking space information-sharing system, motorists can now apply for electric charging without the need for extensive documentation," said a staffer from Laiwu Power Supply Co under the State Grid.

The Laiwu company also cooperated with local NEV sellers to create a streamlined process for vehicle purchasing, charging pile installation and parking space management.

Partnerships have been established with several prominent automakers, including Beiqi Foton Motor Co, Chang'an Automobile Co and BYD, offering full life-cycle services to consumers. Currently, they have signed agreements with 16 residential areas designated as "green channels" by the local government for charging infrastructure, and established a system that shares information for 13,200 parking spaces.

In addition, Laiwu Power Supply Co is striving to advance the development of public charging infrastructure, through a forward-looking, region-specific approach that is closely aligned with urban and rural development plans.

The company has invested in and completed the construction of 75 charging stations and 280 piles in Laiwu, covering five high-speed service centers and 18 townships, with its "10-minute charging circles" established to provide EV owners with a worry-free power supply, it said.

In terms of the maintenance of charging infrastructure, the power supplier has leveraged cutting-edge solutions, such as platforms supported by big data and the internet of things, to monitor and manage the extensive network of charging stations 24/7.

Since the beginning of this year, cumulative electricity consumption from charging stations within Laiwu Power Supply Co's operational scope has exceeded 8 million kilowatt-hours, an increase of 47 percent over the same period last year.

What's happening in Laiwu is taking place all over the country, reflected by a high proportion of expressway service zones equipped with charging stations — 89.5 percent among the total nationwide by the end of June, the Ministry of Transport said.

According to the State Grid, the total charging amount recorded among such service zones nationwide in just the first six days of the eight-day Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday reached 29.2 million kWh, a historic high for the period.

Innovation is also integral to boosting power use efficiency. According to State Grid's Jiangsu unit, its vehicle-grid integration network demonstration zone, the largest in China, has begun operations recently in Wuxi, Jiangsu province. The network can draw electricity to the smart grid from 50 NEVs simultaneously.

With the network, NEV owners can send unused power in their vehicles to the grid through charging piles at the demonstration center and receive subsidies accordingly.

The center will further expand and add more charging piles that are sufficient to meet the needs of charging 144 vehicles and discharging 50 vehicles, as well as a battery charging service for 400 vehicles at a time, the company said.

"Efforts to boost 'new infrastructure' have been highlighted at many high-level meetings in recent years, and China has an urgent need for such efforts amid its green transformation push, as demand for charging piles will continue to hike in the years to come," said Long Chaocan, an investment consultant with China Galaxy Securities Co Ltd.

According to a report by CITIC Securities, the ratio of existing NEVs to charging piles as of the end of 2022 is 2.5:1. As the nation is expected to have a total of 64.2 million NEVs by 2030, and with a target ratio of 1:1 by that time, there is great market potential in the sector in the years to come.