As Europe accelerates its decarbonization efforts, cooperation with China, rather than decoupling, will remain important for maintaining affordable energy prices and advancing the clean energy transition, said the organizer of Intersolar Europe.
MUNICH, Germany, June 30 (Xinhua) -- China has played a key role in making solar power and battery storage more affordable worldwide through its manufacturing scale and efficient supply chains, Markus Elsaesser, founder and CEO of Germany's Solar Promotion GmbH, said in a recent interview with Xinhua.
As Europe accelerates its decarbonization efforts, cooperation with China, rather than decoupling, will remain important for maintaining affordable energy prices and advancing the clean energy transition, said Elsaesser, whose company organizes Intersolar Europe, Europe's largest solar and energy storage exhibition.
By rapidly scaling up manufacturing, optimizing production processes and building efficient supply chains, China has significantly reduced the cost of solar power and battery storage, making both technologies competitive with conventional energy sources, Elsaesser said during the three-day exhibition in Munich last week.
"Today, combining solar power with battery storage is a commercially attractive solution because both technologies have become highly cost-competitive," he said.
He identified battery energy storage as one of the clearest trends at this year's exhibition, saying it has become increasingly important for balancing electricity supply and demand as renewable energy deployment expands.
"Battery storage shifts surplus solar electricity generated during the day to the evening and nighttime. It stabilizes the power system and enables renewable energy to be used much more efficiently," he said.
Another notable trend was the shift from standalone products to integrated energy solutions. Many Chinese exhibitors showcased systems combining solar generation, energy storage, EV charging infrastructure and intelligent energy management.
"The technologies are no longer developing in silos. They are converging into one integrated energy system," Elsaesser said, describing integrated solutions as the future direction of the industry.
On China-Europe cooperation, Elsaesser said the relationship is evolving beyond the traditional supplier-customer model toward deeper industrial partnerships. European companies can learn from China's manufacturing capabilities and supply-chain efficiency, while Chinese companies can benefit from Europe's experience in integrating large shares of renewable electricity into mature power systems, he said. ■
