Sheneng Drives Shanghai’s Green and Low-Carbon Energy Transformation with Innovative Solutions

Exploring Green Low-Carbon Transformation: Shenergy Helps Shanghai Seize Future Energy Opportunities

On October 21, 2025, Shenergy officially launched Shanghai’s first grid-side hybrid energy storage power station—the Shenergy Fengxian Spark Comprehensive New Energy Storage Demonstration Base (Phase I). This facility serves as a “testing ground” for new energy storage applications in Shanghai, integrating various mainstream energy storage technologies to help the city secure a leading position in future energy development.

The Spark Energy Storage Demonstration Base has evolved from a decommissioned coal-fired power plant, symbolizing Shenergy Group’s transformation from a traditional power supplier to a leader in the new power system. As a comprehensive energy enterprise providing one-third of Shanghai’s electricity, Shenergy’s proactive initiatives reflect the city’s commitment to exploring green energy.

Huang Dinnan, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Shenergy Group, stated, “Shenergy Group is actively promoting the green low-carbon transformation of the traditional energy sector, contributing to the construction of a new energy system in super large cities and striving to enhance the resilience and safety of urban infrastructure along with high-quality development.”

Exploring Carbon Control

“The transformation to green energy requires both subtraction and addition,” remarked Chen Tao, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and President of Shenergy Co., Ltd. To build a resilient energy system, it is essential to foster coordination between traditional and new energy sources, adhering to the principle of “establishing first before breaking”. This approach ensures better energy security for the city.

On the “subtraction” front, significant progress has been made in reducing carbon emissions from traditional coal-fired power. Shenergy’s power plants, such as the Waier II and Waier III, and the second phase of the Anhui Pingshan Power Plant, have consistently maintained low coal consumption levels, setting a benchmark for clean and efficient power generation globally.

As traditional power generation approaches its carbon reduction limits, the importance of “addition” becomes increasingly evident. In January this year, Shenergy’s Waier III power plant successfully completed performance tests for its Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) project after 72 hours of continuous operation. This project is notable as it marks the first comprehensive trial of capturing CO2 from flue gases to produce methanol at a coal-fired plant in the country. During the project’s operation, the CO2 capture rate exceeded 95%, peaking at 99%, and the methanol selectivity surpassed 99%. This established a technology route for capturing CO2 from thermal power plants to produce high-value chemicals, paving the way for collaborative carbon reduction in the power and chemical industries.

Aligning with Industry Needs

As a super large city, Shanghai faces high load density and significant peaks and troughs in its regional power grid. Ensuring energy supply security is paramount, making the development of new energy storage essential. New energy storage devices act like “power banks” for the city, storing energy during low demand periods and releasing it during peak times. This “peak shaving and valley filling” function plays a crucial role in managing the fluctuations in the power grid.

At the start of this year, Shanghai announced plans to establish a core technology equipment industry chain for new energy storage by 2026, aiming to scale the industry to nearly 100 billion yuan. By 2030, the goal is to achieve an application scale exceeding 2 million kilowatts and complete peak load reduction, effectively doubling the industry size.

In this context, the Spark Energy Storage Demonstration Base serves as a fitting “testing ground” tailored to Shanghai’s industrial characteristics. Currently, various new energy storage technologies are available, encompassing nearly ten routes, including electrochemical, mechanical, electromagnetic, thermal storage, and hydrogen energy. The industry is still in a “race” phase, with no mainstream consensus yet formed. “In the absence of consensus, we can only boldly experiment,” stated Chen Dongliang, Chairman of Shenergy Storage Co. Within one energy storage station, users can see four mainstream new energy storage battery technologies, which is rare in Shanghai and nationwide.

The Spark Energy Storage Demonstration Base is the first grid-side hybrid energy storage power station in Shanghai, equipped with flow batteries, sodium-ion batteries, semi-solid batteries, and lithium iron phosphate batteries, with advanced technology making up 81.25% of the total. All storage systems feature a modular design and are equipped with independent conversion and boosting systems, resembling “building blocks” with excellent flexibility and scalability.

In addition to accelerating new energy storage pilot demonstrations, Shenergy is expanding its energy integration application scenarios. The company has already established a number of commercial demonstration projects, including the Pudong Airport Runway One and Three and the Guangming One Million Hens Project, creating a replicable “Shanghai model.”

Steady Development

To rapidly construct a power supply system and green transformation framework that meets future urban development needs, enterprises must effectively manage the relationships between coal power and new energy, electricity generation and storage, and local supply versus external layout. In recent years, Shenergy has increased its investment in onshore wind, offshore wind, and photovoltaic energy, with projects now spanning 24 provinces nationwide.

In the expansive Gobi Desert of Xinjiang, large-scale wind and solar bases are emerging. In 2023, under the Shanghai-Xinjiang cooperation framework, Shenergy commenced two projects in Tacheng and Boke Sai’er for photovoltaic and wind energy, totaling an installed capacity of 3.35 million kilowatts. Once completed, these projects will generate over 6 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity annually, enough to power more than 1.5 million households.

Shifting focus to the South China Sea, at the site of Shenergy’s Hainan CZ2 offshore wind project, the sea breeze turns the turbine blades, continuously converting wind energy into clean electricity, injecting green power into the region’s development. In March of this year, all 67 units of the 9-megawatt wind turbines in the first phase of the Hainan CZ2 offshore wind project were fully operational. The second phase is also currently in the planning stages. Additionally, Shenergy is exploring the feasibility of deep-sea wind power and offshore photovoltaic technologies.

Shenergy is not stopping there. Currently, it leads a consortium of 12 advantageous units, leveraging the Shenergy Hainan CZ2 offshore wind demonstration project to conduct national-level research on “Key Technologies for Comprehensive Utilization of Offshore Wind Power for Hydrogen Production and Engineering Demonstration.” The focus is on overcoming key technologies for offshore hydrogen production, storage, transportation, and hydrogen-based energy synthesis, promoting the integrated utilization of offshore wind energy for hydrogen applications. “We plan to complete the technical and engineering preparations by the end of 2025 and begin testing in designated sea areas starting in 2026, exploring large-scale hydrogen production experiences using floating platforms offshore,” stated Zhu Jiaqi, Deputy General Manager of the Investment Management Department at Shenergy Group.

At the same time, Shenergy is actively advancing the green hydrogen—green methanol integrated demonstration project, aiming to establish a complete industrial chain from green electricity to green fuels, thereby facilitating diverse energy transitions and enhancing the security and resilience of the energy industrial chain.