Hainan is coupling its new-type power grid with its logistics network. As the first province in China to announce a ban on the sale of fuel vehicles from 2030, Hainan Island sees heavy-truck trips that generally do not exceed 300 kilometers one way, with strong demand for port collection and distribution. As of August this year, the province had 22,000 heavy trucks in operation, including 2,387 electric ones, an electrification rate of 10.8%.
One of the main forces behind this transition is Southern Power Grid (Hainan) Electric Vehicle Service Co., Ltd. (“Hainan EV Service” for short). Relying on the “Hainan Round-the-Island” heavy-truck charging and battery-swapping green logistics energy-supplement network, the company uses the power service network as a link to promote two-way coupling of the new-type grid and the logistics network, building a three-tier heavy-truck energy-supplement network of “port hubs — island trunk routes — central pass-through points”: large comprehensive heavy-truck charging stations at the three core container hubs of Haikou Port, Macun Port and Yangpu Port; return-leg end stations in coastal cities and counties such as Ledong, Sanya and Lingshui; and a central pass-through station at Wushi, Qiongzhong. Unlike long-haul trunk logistics on the mainland, heavy trucks on Hainan Island prefer the 400 kW dual-gun high-power fast-charging scheme, which takes only about one hour to charge from 20% to 80%.
Facing Hainan’s tight land resources, Hainan EV Service has explored several co-construction and operation models: the company provides charging equipment and handles grid connection, while logistics companies carry out the civil works and contribute stable transport capacity, with both sides sharing returns in proportion to investment. Under this model, heavy-truck charging stations have been completed at all three container ports, with 22 400 kW high-power charging piles in operation and cumulative charging volume of 12.3091 million kWh. The Cangxi station in Haikou has reached a total installed capacity of 9,400 kW after several rounds of expansion and, contracted to a leading logistics company for operation, serves 130 heavy trucks per day on average with the highest charging volume in the province. The Danzhou Baimajing heavy-truck charging base has 20 400 kW dual-gun charging piles in phases I and II, serving up to 200 heavy-truck visits per day, and uses an intelligent dispatch system that links vehicle trajectories and fleet operation data to dynamically optimize charging schedules.
As of August this year, Hainan EV Service had built 14 heavy-truck charging stations and 2 battery-swap stations, with 213 charging guns and a total installed capacity of more than 39,000 kW; from January to July, heavy-truck charging and swapping volume reached 22.6 million kWh, up 152.23% year on year, serving nearly 500 container tractors, or 40% of the vehicles of the same type operating in the province. Next, the company plans to raise the total number of heavy-truck stations to 18 by the end of the year, closing the island-loop backbone refueling network, and to open cross-regional refueling corridors for heavy trucks entering and leaving the island across Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan.
For the power distribution equipment industry, heavy-truck charging stations are typical large concentrated loads: a single station often has an installed capacity of several thousand kilowatts and requires supporting transformers, low-voltage distribution and highly reliable switchgear. The construction of energy-supplement networks at ports, mining areas and logistics parks is becoming a new incremental market for distribution equipment.
Source:China Energy News Network