Hithium: We think it’s a very active market, and we can see it’s becoming more active in recent years. I believe the reason is that many investors in renewable energy have started to suffer from negative prices on the grid, and they want to ensure their previous investments get paid back. Now they want to add energy storage systems to their previous investments, whether in wind, solar, or biomass, as a way to achieve greater ROI on their investment. When everybody started to realise that adding energy storage systems can increase their return on investment, they started to purchase BESS, and that’s why we see this booming demand in the European market. I think it’s going to continue for a couple of years until all the demand and gaps are filled.
It’s really a renewable energy-driven market, so all the demand actually comes from renewable energy penetration—the high penetration of renewable energy drives both utility and C&I markets. For utilities, there are large PV farms and wind farms that need utility-scale products, but there are also many smaller investors or smaller companies running PV farms, and these people also need to increase their return on investment. The C&I cabinet or C&I systems would be their best choice, because they’re small, connected to low-voltage PCS solutions with 400 Vac, and easy to move, store, and commission. We see this market—C&I systems will be a perfect match for previous investments in PV.
