Recently, the Ministry of Transport, in collaboration with multiple ministries, issued the "Notice on Accelerating the Transformation and Development of Bus Passenger Stations" (referred to as the "Notice"), which pointed out that local transportation departments should work together with development and reform, and energy departments to support the construction of charging infrastructure for passenger stations, and serve new energy vehicles entering cities and rural areas.

Industry insiders have stated that the current rapid development of China's new energy vehicle market has led to an increasing number of new energy vehicles and an increasing demand for charging. The sinking of new energy vehicle charging facilities construction in rural areas will become one of the important trends in industry development, and the construction of charging piles will welcome a broad market.

Large development space

The notice points out that it is necessary to accelerate the transformation and development of bus passenger stations and expand the service functions of the stations. Specifically, transportation departments in various regions should work together with development, reform, and energy departments to support the construction of charging infrastructure at passenger stations, serve the entry of new energy vehicles into cities and rural areas, prioritize ensuring the charging needs of urban public transportation vehicles, taxis, and road passenger vehicles, and encourage the provision of night time charging custody services.

According to data from the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance, the charging volume of new energy vehicles in China is growing rapidly. In June of this year, the total charging capacity of new energy vehicles in China was about 2.96 billion kilowatt hours, an increase of 210 million kilowatt hours compared to the previous month, a month on month increase of 7.8%, and a year-on-year increase of 53.4%.

In order to meet the growing demand for charging, the construction of charging infrastructure in China has been rapidly promoted, and the number of charging stations has maintained a high growth. In June of this year, China's public charging stations increased by 65000 units month on month, a year-on-year increase of 40.6%. From January to June, China's charging infrastructure increased by 1.442 million units, including 351000 public charging stations and 1.091 million private charging stations built with vehicles. As of June 2023, the cumulative number of charging infrastructure in China is 6.652 million units, a year-on-year increase of 69.8%.

From the perspective of regional distribution, the construction of public charging infrastructure is relatively concentrated in regions, with Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Hubei, Beijing, Shandong, Anhui, Henan, Fujian and other places accounting for 71.4% of the total number of public charging piles in China. The charging electricity in China is mainly concentrated in provinces such as Guangdong, Jiangsu, Hebei, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Fujian, Shanghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Henan, etc. The electricity flow is mainly focused on buses and passenger cars, while other types of vehicles such as sanitation logistics vehicles and taxis account for a relatively small proportion.

According to calculations by Zhongtai Securities, the market size of charging piles in China and Europe and America is expected to increase from 40.2 billion yuan in 2022 to 167.4 billion yuan in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 60%. Among them, the compound annual growth rate of charging piles in the European and American markets is expected to reach 79%, while the compound annual growth rate in the domestic market is expected to exceed 40%. In the future, the growth rate of DC charging pile scale will be even higher.

The demand for charging has increased significantly

Recently, various parts of the country are accelerating the promotion of new energy vehicles to rural areas, and the demand for charging infrastructure in rural areas has also increased significantly.

Xu Xingfeng, Director of the Market Operation and Consumption Promotion Department of the Ministry of Commerce, recently stated at a press conference that in the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will continue to adhere to the dual wheel drive of "policy+activities" and further implement and refine the "Consumption Boosting Year". This includes organizing activities such as the corresponding home renovation consumption season, the Hundred Cities Linkage Automobile Festival, and the New Energy Vehicles Going to the Countryside in Thousand Counties and Ten Thousand Towns.

The General Office of the State Council forwarded a notice from the National Development and Reform Commission on measures to restore and expand consumption, mentioning the expansion of consumption of new energy vehicles. Implement policies such as building a high-quality charging infrastructure system, supporting the relocation of new energy vehicles to rural areas, and continuing and optimizing the reduction and exemption of new energy vehicle purchase taxes. Scientifically layout and moderately advance the construction of charging infrastructure system, accelerate the promotion and application of power exchange models, and effectively meet the charging and switching needs of residents during travel. Promote the optimization layout of public charging infrastructure in residential areas and implement residential electricity prices, study the implementation of peak valley time of use electricity pricing policies for charging infrastructure, and promote the reduction of electricity costs for new energy vehicles.

The Shandong Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, the Provincial Development and Reform Commission, the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Provincial Department of Commerce, and the Provincial Energy Bureau have jointly released the "2023 Shandong Province New Energy Vehicles Going to the Countryside Activity Plan". During the year, Shandong will focus on carrying out five major actions and 10 key tasks of "optimizing supply, promoting consumption, constructing facilities, expanding scenarios, and strengthening services", striving to increase the sales of new energy vehicles produced in the province to rural areas by more than 10%, and achieve a total of over 450000 units of charging infrastructure.

The "Three Year Action Plan for Implementing the Strategy of Expanding Domestic Demand in Henan Province" recently issued by Henan Province mentions the implementation of preferential policies for car purchases, encouraging various regions to introduce policies to support the exchange of old cars for new ones, guiding banking and financial institutions to increase their support for automobile consumption credit, organizing a series of activities such as new energy vehicles for the benefit of the people in the countryside, and the Zhongyuan International Auto Show, to promote the large-scale and standardized development of second-hand car circulation. Improve parking lots, hydrogen refueling stations, and other facilities, optimize the service network of urban charging facilities, accelerate the construction of charging facilities in areas such as gas stations, highway service areas, passenger and freight transportation hubs, and rural areas suitable for the use of new energy vehicles. By 2025, a total of more than 250000 charging piles (guns) of various types and more than 6000 centralized public charging and swapping stations will be built. Promote the demonstration and application of national fuel cell vehicles in the Zhengzhou urban agglomeration.

CITIC Securities stated that since the beginning of this year, relevant national departments have successively issued heavyweight policy documents, covering electrification in the public sector, charging infrastructure support for new energy vehicles going to the countryside, and other areas. The charging pile industry has ushered in intensive policy catalysis. With the gradual increase in the number of new energy vehicles, charging stations have entered an accelerated construction period. Under the dual stimulation of policy and demand, companies upstream and downstream of the charging pile industry chain are expected to benefit.

Source: China Securities News · China Securities Network

Author: Jin Yidan