Chuangyuan Metal’s Grid-Forming Energy Storage Project Delivers Over 120 million RMB in Annual Benefits
At the 16th China International Energy Storage Conference (CIES 2026), Zhiguang Energy Storage held a special forum at which Xiao Hongweng, Head of Relay Protection at Inner Mongolia Chuangyuan Metal Co., Ltd., delivered a presentation on the applications of cascaded high-voltage direct-connected technology in green power connection. He shared the project’s innovations and achievements, which have been described as China’s largest user-side grid-forming benchmark energy project. It is a replicable model for integrated development of source-grid-load-storage systems in energy-intensive industries.
As China’s energy landscape continues to change, energy-intensive companies are facing multiple challenges. On one hand, renewable energy capacity in Inner Mongolia continues to expand, but wind and solar curtailment rates remain high at approximately 8%-12%, meaning a significant amount of available renewable energy cannot be fully utilized. On the other hand, the government is implementing increasingly stringent policies that require energy-intensive industries to increase their use of green electricity and meet carbon reduction targets. New data centers are required to obtain at least 80% of their electricity from green power sources while aluminum and steel industries are subject to mandatory green electricity usage ranging from 27% up to 70%. As a result, the gap between companies’ green electricity supply and demand continues to widen.
Traditional power supply models, however, also face challenges in meeting the needs of industrial operations. A single power outage can cause losses of tens of millions of yuan within a couple of hours. Black-start procedures for thermal power plants can take more than six hours, leaving industrial facilities vulnerable to prolonged disruptions. Traditional energy prices are also subject to significant fluctuations. In contrast, direct connection to green power can reduce energy costs by an estimated 20%–30%, while also providing a more stable and reliable source of electricity.
Xiao Hongwen noted that over the next two years, annual new demand for green electricity from energy-intensive industries is expected to reach 80-120 billion kWh. This could save an estimated 24-36 million metric tons of coal use and reduce carbon emissions by approximately 44-66 million metric tons. The enormous increase in demand for green electricity is creating an urgent need to establish more efficient channels for channels for connecting supply and demand.
A key focus of Xiao Hongweng’s presentation was the Chuangyuan Metal project, which achieved the world’s first demonstration of a grid-forming cascaded high-voltage energy storage system working with a coal-fired power unit to achieve black start and grid synchronization. This project addresses renewable energy’s largest issue, the fact it cannot restart on its own following a blackout, by establishing a complete black-start sequence: “energy storage establishes the grid → thermal power starts up → renewable energy is brought online.”
Xiao Hongwen detailed three core technological innovations:
1.Multi-unit Coordinated black-start control technology: Enables coordinated islanded operation amount energy storage, thermal power, and renewable energy systems.
2. Masterless multi-unit parallel power-sharing and load-impact suppression algorithms: Enables multiple energy storage units to operate collaboratively and stably in an isolated grid white suppressing disturbances caused by the switching of high-power equipment.
3.Precise phase-locking and synchronization control between energy storage and coal-fired generating units: Enables smooth, disturbance-free load transfer and grid stability throughout the entire process.
Upon implementation, the project has delivered significant benefits such as establishing a closed-loop five-fold revenue in Phase 1 with a total comprehensive benefit exceeding 120 million RMB. It achieves cost reduction and efficiency gains by replacing traditional black-start equipment. Enabling grid peak shaving and energy consumption reduction, energy storage peak-shaving, and valley filling. From the eco-environment perspective, the project can absorb approximately 100 million kWh of curtailed electricity per year, saving about 30,000 tons of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by roughly 78,000 tons.
In terms of low carbon strategic planning, Chuanyuan Metals’ scale of green power application continues to rise. In 2025, its green electricity consumption reached 813 million kWh. In 2026, the consumption is projected to hit 3.166 billion kWh, accounting for 31.7% of its total electricity use. By 2027, green power usage is planned to reach 3.5 billion kWh, showing the steady advancement of the company’s low-carbon transition.
Moving forward, Chuanyuan Metal will continue to partner with Zhiguang Energy Storage to optimize source-grid-load-storage collaborative control solutions to advance energy storage in future zero-carbon industrial parks while driving high-quality development of new power systems.
