The Rise of the Four-Mao Era: Understanding the Price Wars and Market Dynamics in Commercial Energy Storage

Behind the “Suicide Price” of Four Mao: What Logic Does Hongzheng Energy and Other Manufacturers Interpret in the Commercial Energy Storage Sector?

In 2025, the commercial energy storage market officially entered the “Four Mao Era.” Companies like Boshi New Energy and Hongzheng Energy have consecutively introduced products with prices below 0.5 CNY/Wh, leading the entire industry into a bizarre cycle of “selling at a loss.” As “cost-performance ratio” turns into a marketing gimmick that depletes product lifecycles, and energy storage stations increasingly become “zombie assets,” this competition, which sacrifices long-term value, is shaking the foundation of the industry. Is this a victory for technological cost reduction and scale effects, or a reluctant choice for manufacturers to exchange low prices for market share in the face of declining policy benefits and shrinking profits? Can this price war reach a conclusion? Here are the details:

01 Commercial Energy Storage Enters the “Four Mao Era”

At the beginning of 2025, Boshi New Energy launched a new commercial energy storage cabinet priced at 0.499 CNY/Wh, a figure dubbed “suicide price” within the industry, officially marking the entrance of commercial energy storage into the “Four Mao Era.” Following this, Hongzheng Energy introduced its COSMOS 2.0 digital system and the new generation D-Cube 2.0 smart energy storage cabinet, with limited-time promotions bringing the price down to 0.486 CNY/Wh. Recently, Changyuan Energy released a new commercial energy storage cabinet with a capacity of 215kW/418kWh, priced at 0.478 CNY/Wh. Over the past year, the prices of commercial energy storage products have decreased by nearly 70%, and it seems that the prices in 2025 will not stop at 0.478 CNY/Wh.

From an industry chain perspective, the prices of upstream lithium battery materials and cells have continued to drop, naturally leading to price reductions in related downstream products. The iteration of technology and its large-scale application are also driving down costs in commercial energy storage. On the market side, with the recent adjustments to time-of-use electricity pricing policies across several provinces, the operational model of commercial energy storage is regressing from the “two charging and two discharging” approach to a simpler “one charging and one discharging” model. As policy benefits diminish, the declining profits for commercial owners have led to reduced investments. Consequently, to attract downstream clients, energy storage system integrators are forced to compete on “cost-performance ratio,” effectively “losing money to gain attention.” In this environment of “increasing price competition and shrinking margins,” is there still a need for such reckless price competition? Long-term value for money is not realistic, and “value” has become a mere slogan for energy storage firms, often turning into a blade that undermines clients.

Currently, energy storage companies are using parameter packaging to beautify their product performance in marketing, but some energy storage stations become zombie assets just three to five years after construction, with thousands of cycles reducing to theoretical values. The “cost-performance ratio” has become a tactic that endangers clients’ long-term security and low-cost usage, while lifecycle discussions have become mere talk. Low prices are shaking the foundations of the industry.

02 The Rationale Behind Low-Price Competition

Despite knowing that low-price competition is unsustainable, why do commercial energy storage companies frequently engage in price cuts? Taking Hongzheng Energy as an example, their new generation D-Cube 2.0 smart energy storage cabinet adopts a modular design and includes an intelligent BMS 2.0 system, combined with AI algorithms and 7M multi-dimensional sensing technology to create a “multi-level fire protection” structure. However, this product, which breaks price barriers, does not appear to be of inferior quality. Reports indicate that Hongzheng Energy’s new commercial energy storage cabinet uses PCS from Shenghong Co., with a five-year warranty, and its price reductions encourage upstream companies to lower costs as well. In this sense, Hongzheng Energy is not an isolated case.

Boshi New Energy’s ability to introduce commercial energy storage cabinets into the “Four Mao Era” is also due to the backing of major shareholders like Xizi Clean Energy and Hangshi Group, with products co-developed alongside Ruipu Lanjun, Gaote Electronics, and Enjiu Technology. The low-price competition has transformed from the actions of individual manufacturers to a collective effort.

Moreover, low prices are not without requirements. According to reports from Gaogong Energy Storage, to ensure order quality, Hongzheng Energy requires customers to order at least 20 units and pay a 10% deposit by the end of March, along with 30% of the initial payment by the end of April, and full payment before shipping. Boshi Energy requires a minimum order of over 50 units with a deposit of 500,000 CNY, offering warranty packages to the first 50 customers. Midstream and downstream manufacturers of commercial energy storage are working to increase terminal volumes, assisting upstream in achieving economies of scale, but losses remain unavoidable. Under these circumstances, manufacturers must consider that the costs of commercial energy storage products will not drop to zero or become negative. This implies that even if positive cycles of cost and production are achieved in the short term, such cycles, constrained by unavoidable natural costs, will eventually face stagnation.

03 Where is the Way Forward?

As commercial energy storage manufacturers face numerous obstacles relying solely on hardware sales and price competition, software-driven asset operation is emerging as a new path to profitability in the sector. Gaogong Energy Storage anticipates that 2025 will be a crucial year for the application of AI in commercial energy storage. Hongzheng Energy’s COSMOS 2.0 digital system, which integrates self-developed AI algorithms and dynamic strategy engines, provides features such as load, electricity price forecasting, and equipment health analysis. It generates optimal charging and discharging strategies in real-time, supporting diverse revenue models such as peak-valley arbitrage and demand management.

Additionally, the company has pioneered a “dual-brain” collaborative architecture, leveraging the “cognitive intelligence right brain” of large models and “decision intelligence left brain” of AI algorithms to enhance the synergy of sources, networks, loads, and storage, transforming energy storage from a “cost center” to a “value hub.” Recognizing the “service-heavy” nature of commercial energy storage, Changyuan Energy also leverages its group’s energy network to establish a 24/7 service network, using its advantages in EMS to create a smart operation network, with project revenue as a core KPI.

Moreover, Ronghe Yuanshu has embraced the motto of becoming the “most knowledgeable operator in energy storage services,” with its AI-enabled smart trading and VPP operation platform officially upgraded. However, challenges remain in terms of insufficient data volume and quality, making it difficult for commercial energy storage manufacturers to achieve significant profits in the short term. Improving computational power and data reserves is a prerequisite.

Furthermore, the overseas market is entering a phase of high growth for commercial energy storage. GGII predicts that the growth rate of commercial energy storage will exceed 50% in 2025, with overseas markets expected to see growth rates of over 100%. Leading companies like Sungrow are expanding their international presence. The “self-supplied power plant” model, driven by electricity pricing mechanisms and subsidy policies, is making European commercial energy storage economically viable through peak-valley arbitrage and grid frequency regulation. However, overseas markets still face challenges such as geographical differences and inadequate supporting facilities, with tariff barriers and political risks exacerbating operational pressures for related manufacturers. The journey for domestic commercial energy storage firms to expand overseas still requires time to validate their strategies.

04 Conclusion

The commercial energy storage sector has reached a pivotal moment. In the “Four Mao Era,” it is no longer sufficient for companies to rely solely on price competition; an integrated ecosystem of hardware and software will be key to the next round of industry reshuffling. Time is running out for commercial energy storage manufacturers.