While the industry is hotly debating a downturn, a number of energy storage power stations are quietly achieving annual returns exceeding 15%. Their success stems from a fundamental reshaping of their operational logic.

At industry forums, some lament that energy storage projects are “unprofitable”; on the other hand, a group of power stations with annual equivalent utilization hours exceeding 1000 hours and stable internal rates of return (IRR) of 12%-15% remain remarkably quiet. “For truly profitable projects, data speaks volumes,” says a seasoned asset manager.

By the end of 2025, my country’s cumulative installed capacity of new energy storage will exceed 100 million kilowatts. Behind this prosperity, a brutal differentiation is quietly unfolding: on one hand, a “scale frenzy,” and on the other, a “survival-or-death operational race.”

Currently, over 60% of energy storage projects admit to facing profit pressure, while approximately 20% have achieved stable and excellent returns. This reveals a core principle: the difference between strategic positioning and operational capabilities is the watershed between profitability and loss.

Profitable projects have long since moved beyond the old mindset of “passive supporting infrastructure.” Through a strategy of “integrating fragmented resources,” they have upgraded scattered supporting energy storage into large-scale, independent, shared power stations. This is not merely physical centralization, but a leap in operational philosophy—from scattered “soldiers” fighting their own battles to a “value army” actively participating in market competition through collaborative operations.

Profitable projects have completed a fundamental shift from “selling equipment” to “selling system value.” They are no longer simply charging and discharging units, but key assets in the power system providing flexible regulation, stable support, and diversified value. This shift in positioning is fundamental to their ability to weather market fluctuations.

Projects relying solely on peak-valley arbitrage are like “living off the weather,” while true profit-makers have already built an impregnable revenue “moat”—a “triple revenue matrix.”

First Layer: Basic Electricity Revenue. Through accurate forecasting and trading strategies, participating in the medium- and long-term and spot markets maximizes price difference profits. In pilot spot markets, outstanding projects have increased this revenue by over 30%.

Second Layer: Ancillary Service Revenue. Actively participating in peak shaving, frequency regulation, and backup services. In some regions, this revenue already accounts for over 40% of total project revenue, becoming a cornerstone of profitability.

Third Layer: Capacity and Coupling Value. Obtaining capacity leasing/compensation and exploring innovative “energy storage+” models, such as coupling with green electricity to hydrogen production, opens up new value outlets.

Benchmark projects have achieved tens of millions of yuan in revenue in their first year by flexibly combining the above channels. Essentially, this realizes the comprehensive system value of energy storage through market mechanisms.

Profitable projects focus on “full lifecycle value mining” from a technological perspective. They have generally achieved a leap from passive response to proactive prediction.

By deploying “digital twin” systems and advanced AI algorithms, leading projects can provide early warnings of potential operational risks days or even weeks in advance, completely shifting the operation and maintenance model from “post-fault repair” to “prevention before risks occur,” significantly improving security and availability.

Efficiency improvements are a direct realization of the technology. By optimizing core control system algorithms, leading projects have achieved system cycle efficiency exceeding 92%, a significant advantage over the industry average. This seemingly small percentage difference translates directly into millions of yuan in additional profit at the megawatt-hour level of annual throughput.

“Three parts construction, seven parts operation.” Profitable projects are meticulously implemented down to every “devil’s detail.”

Professional Team: Equipped with a composite team that understands both power technology and is proficient in market trading and financial instruments.

In-depth Data Utilization: Analyzing granular details down to the degradation differences of each battery cluster and the economics of each charge-discharge cycle, driving continuous optimization of operational strategies.

Full Lifecycle Cost Management: Establishing a full lifecycle cost control and value assessment system from equipment selection to battery recycling. The leader has significantly improved battery residual value through closed-loop management of battery reuse.

Profitable projects understand that “no market is static.” Their success relies on a deep understanding and swift response to electricity market reform trends.

Faced with reforms in some regions that have abolished fixed peak-valley electricity prices and fully transitioned to spot markets, profitable projects have already positioned themselves, shifting to complex trading models that rely on accurate price forecasting and financial risk hedging.

They generally implement a “one-site-one-policy” operating mechanism: focusing on peak shaving in province A, frequency regulation in province B, and optimizing spot trading in province C. This extreme flexibility ensures they maximize the capture of opportunities in different markets.

Simultaneously, they have established a keen policy radar, ensuring they can adjust their strategies immediately when various capacity compensation and ancillary service rules are introduced, gaining a first-mover advantage.

Industry consolidation is inevitable. Data shows that while the average utilization efficiency of energy storage projects is improving, the gap between leading and lagging projects is huge. In the next year or two, projects lacking core operational capabilities will be rapidly eliminated.

Industry competition is shifting from a “scale race” to an ultimate contest of “operational capabilities.” For investors, the focus of evaluation has shifted from “hard metrics” to “soft power”—namely, the team’s professional operation and sustainable profitability.

In this increasingly mature market, the noisy complainers will eventually fade away, while those who quietly cultivate their expertise will win the future. The secret to profitability has never changed: returning to the essence of operation and creating systemic value.

The profound transformation of the energy storage industry urgently requires a professional and pragmatic exchange platform to promote the sharing of operational wisdom and the collaborative evolution of the industry.

As a professional industry organization based in Jiangsu and serving the whole country, the Jiangsu Energy Storage Industry Association continuously focuses on and guides the healthy development of the industry. The 4th International Energy Storage Conference (CESC2026), co-hosted by the association, will be held from May 22nd to 24th, 2026 at the Nanjing International Expo Center.

This conference will feature a special top-level closed-door seminar on “Lean Operation and Profit Maximization of Energy Storage Assets.” At this event, frontline operators behind those “silent profitable projects” will gather in a rare manner to strip away the hype and get straight to the heart of the matter: How to build a practical profit model? How to extract real profits through refined operations? How to design strategies to adapt to drastic market changes?

This will be the first time that the industry’s most valuable practical experience has been collectively revealed. TAICO, responding to this call, will join hands with true industry veterans in Nanjing in 2026 to explore sustainable profitability and survival rules in the era of large-scale energy storage.