（原标题：Jack Yuan: Green Insurance Backing for Energy Storage's Expansion Lies a Trillion-Dollar New Market）
SFC Correspondent Lu Taoran, Li Deshangyu
Chinese energy storage companies are stepping on the gas pedal for overseas expansion. According to the latest data from InfoLink, among the top ten global energy storage system suppliers in the first three quarters of 2025, eight are Chinese companies, with business coverage extending to core markets such as Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, North America, and the Middle East.
However, behind the surge in overseas orders for energy storage, risks are accumulating. Technical hazards such as lithium battery thermal runaway, the variability of overseas policies and regulations, and the characteristics of energy storage projects—long cycles and highly volatile revenue curves—make traditional insurance transaction models unsuitable.
Against this backdrop, some insurance companies have identified new opportunities. At the recently held Green Energy Emerging Risk Insurance Forum, the Energy Storage Insurance White Paper released by Generali China Insurance pointed out that the evolution of the energy storage industry's business model will give rise to an entirely new value-added service market. It is estimated that by 2035, the market size will rapidly expand from approximately USD 10.9 billion in 2025 to nearly USD 180 billion.
Generali China Insurance is the first Sino-foreign joint-venture property insurance company in China. In September 2024, it transitioned from a sino-foreign joint venture to a wholly foreign-owned enterprise. During the forum, Jack Yuan, CEO of Generali China Insurance, granted an exclusive interview to 21st Century Business Herald reporters, stating that, backed by Generali Group, Generali China Insurance primarily provides services in Central and Eastern Europe and South American countries, aligning with the overseas expansion direction of Chinese companies.
"The insurance industry is actively transforming into a provider of risk management solutions for companies going global," Yuan told reporters. As China's green production capacity accelerates its global expansion, a mature and reliable green insurance system has become a crucial financial infrastructure for safeguarding the security of the industrial chain. Generali China Insurance plans to increase the proportion of green insurance business to 30%-40% over the next five years, making it the largest business segment.
Multinationals on China: Generali China Insurance is the first Sino-foreign joint-venture property insurance company in China and became wholly foreign-owned last September. Why does GCI focus on the green insurance sector?
Jack Yuan: This strategic choice is driven by multiple factors. As a wholly foreign-owned enterprise, differentiation is essential in the fiercely competitive Chinese market. Small and medium-sized insurance companies without a unique positioning will struggle to develop core business characteristics, let alone replicate the comprehensive layout model of leading Chinese insurers. This is our primary consideration.
From an industry perspective, the core value of insurance lies in safeguarding economic and social development. At the beginning of the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, we judged that the Chinese economy had entered a critical transition phase. Areas prioritized by the government often harbor long-term market opportunities, and aligning with these trends represents the greatest opportunity. After multiple assessments, we ultimately identified green transformation as the core growth area. The formal proposal of China's "dual carbon" goals and the proactive advancement of emission reduction targets by some companies to "2025 and 2050" have validated this judgment. More critically, the Central Financial Work Conference explicitly stated that financial enterprises must excel in "five major articles," with green finance, as a vital component, upgraded from an "option" to a "strategic imperative" and a core pillar of future development.
From a market perspective, traditional insurance sectors are nearing saturation, while green insurance, as an emerging field, offers broader opportunities and relatively smaller starting gaps among industry participants, providing us with a chance to become a leader. Of course, emerging sectors inherently carry risks, and their "novelty" may deter some institutions. However, this is precisely where core opportunities lie—if risks are fully understood by the entire industry, market dividends are already diluted; when risks are not yet fully recognized, those who invest first and achieve a penetrating understanding of risks can gain a first-mover advantage. We have always believed that the long-term opportunities in the green insurance sector far outweigh short-term risks.
Multinationals on China: What competitive advantages does GCI have in the green insurance field?
Jack Yuan: While the insurance industry is broadly investing in green insurance, our core differentiation lies in targeting the green "Belt and Road" as a niche sector. China's new energy industry has established a globally leading position, accounting for 40%-80% of the global new energy supply chain, with a technological edge of 1-3 generations and significantly lower costs. Most countries worldwide still face an urgent need for clean energy substitution, with some European countries even withdrawing from competition in certain new energy sectors due to their inability to compete with Chinese companies in terms of production capacity and pricing. This dynamic makes the global expansion of Chinese new energy companies inevitable.
The localization of overseas risk management is a core pain point for Chinese companies going global, which is precisely where our strength lies. Leveraging the global network of our shareholder, Generali Group, we can provide localized risk management services for Chinese companies overseas while ensuring the centralized recovery of premium income under Chinese interests. In other words, this is a "small niche with deep penetration" strategy. Although focused on a single niche, we have formed a scalable market space by deeply tapping into clients’ needs and improving service chains.
In terms of actual results, in 2024, we ranked sixth in premium income within the "Belt and Road" reinsurance pool, with a gap of only a few million yuan from the fifth-ranked company and a premium scale ratio of approximately 1:6 compared to leading institutions. We expect to further advance into the top four of the pool in the coming years.
Multinationals on China: Generali China Insurance established the "Green Insurance R&D Hub" in June this year. Why did you choose energy storage as a key research area?
Jack Yuan: Looking back at the green energy sector, the focus in previous years was primarily on wind and solar power, whose industrial forms have become relatively mature and entered a phase of price competition, with a clearer risk structure. Although there is still room for improvement in photovoltaic manufacturing technology, significant generational breakthroughs are unlikely. As the proportion of green energy increases, the pressure on power grids rises significantly due to their volatility, which differs entirely from traditional coal-fired power.
Against this backdrop, energy storage has become a critical node. Without energy storage, even a large-scale green power grid cannot be efficiently utilized. The generation costs of wind and solar power are already lower than those of coal-fired power, but when storage costs are factored in, the overall costs are comparable. Coal-fired power does not require large-scale storage, whereas wind and solar power rely heavily on it—as evidenced by this year's power outage in Spain.
After the energy storage industry shifts to "demand-based storage allocation," its risk profile becomes more complex, encompassing not only technical and operational risks but also systemic uncertainties arising from emerging market mechanisms still under development, evolving rules, and unclear business models. Currently, electrochemical energy storage is growing rapidly, but with multiple technological routes such as capacitive, power, flywheel, liquid storage, and sodium-ion developing in parallel, energy storage has become a key component of power infrastructure construction. We chose to focus on energy storage research because we observed significant overseas investment by Chinese companies in large-scale energy storage projects. However, unlike wind and solar power, the insurance industry has reservations about electrochemical energy storage due to its combustion risks, whether from power batteries, new energy vehicle accidents, or lithium iron phosphate energy storage project issues, all of which make it difficult for insurers to accurately price risks.
Multinationals on China: What are GCI's plans for the energy storage sector over the next 3-5 years?
Jack Yuan: Currently, green insurance business accounts for approximately 10% of our overall business. Our goal is to increase this proportion to 30%-40% by around 2030, using about five years. By then, green insurance is expected to become our largest business segment.
In terms of development path, we initially entered traditional clean energy sectors such as wind and solar power, particularly achieving full industrial chain coverage in the photovoltaic sector, from upstream manufacturing to downstream power stations. As a relatively emerging field, energy storage has become our current focus due to its irreplaceable regulatory role in the power grid system.
We classify the energy storage market into three major segments based on application scenarios: large-scale energy storage (large-scale storage), industrial and commercial energy storage (industrial and commercial storage), and residential energy storage (residential energy storage). These segments exhibit significant differences between domestic and international markets: the Chinese market is dominated by large-scale storage, supplemented by industrial and commercial storage, while the residential energy storage market has not yet developed on a large scale; in contrast, mature European markets excel in industrial and commercial and residential energy storage. Additionally, differences in grid structures between China and foreign countries lead to divergent business models: China's large power grid system primarily relies on large-scale storage, while Europe's regional grids are more suitable for independent energy storage operators.
Based on the technological routes and customer needs in different markets, we are conducting differentiated product design. Currently in the early stages of segment-specific research, we will gradually introduce targeted insurance solutions.
Multinationals on China: The white paper proposes the "Risk-as-a-Service" (RaaS) model, estimating that the relevant market size will grow from USD 10 billion in 2025 to USD 180 billion in 2035. How will this model reshape insurance underwriting logic?
Jack Yuan: We believe that energy storage projects, characterized by long cycles and highly volatile revenue curves, are unsuitable for traditional transaction models of "one-time delivery with subsequent disconnection." Under traditional insurance models, risks at energy storage power stations are viewed in isolation, such as material damage risk, liability risk, and battery performance risk, all assessed independently.
While issues like battery safety, charge-discharge efficiency, and lifespan degradation are important, the owner's true concern lies in revenue certainty. Taking charging stations as an example, their core profit model relies on peak-valley electricity price differentials. If battery suppliers can guarantee discharge power and availability, they essentially provide users with "quantifiable revenue protection," which is the fundamental need. In this model, hardware manufacturers must integrate battery performance, lifecycle, and safety commitments into their service packages, forming long-term interest alignment with owners. Manufacturers must then balance hardware costs, maintenance, insurance, and service expenditures to construct a holistic solution. Excluding hardware value, the remaining components belong to the service category.
The current energy storage market is plagued by low-price competition, with some suppliers sacrificing safety and long-term performance to cut costs. Since battery performance degradation typically becomes apparent only after three years, if suppliers lack sustainable operational capabilities, users face difficulties in seeking redress later. The RaaS model, through long-term contracts, integrates owners, suppliers, and insurers into a community of interests, encouraging continuous investment in safety, performance, and management by all parties, thereby steering the market away from the "price war" red ocean toward high-quality development.
Multinationals on China: Lithium battery thermal runaway was the leading cause of global energy storage accidents in 2025. What are the current shortcomings in risk prevention and control in the energy storage industry? How can GCI help clients reduce such risks through insurance product innovation?
Jack Yuan: From a technological perspective, lithium iron phosphate batteries currently dominate the large-scale storage sector, with relatively controllable fire risks, while ternary lithium batteries pose higher risks. Leading battery manufacturers and integrators generally prioritize safety, but this involves two key aspects:
First is the industry standard system. For example, certification standards such as UL and NFPA promoted in the U.S. market have established strict norms, while domestic standard systems are continuously improving. Standard-setting requires a dynamic balance—too low a threshold poses hidden dangers, while too high a threshold may exceed industrial capacity, necessitating a gradual process.
Second is the variance in corporate safety cultures. Different manufacturers exhibit significant differences in their value orientations toward efficiency and safety. Some companies regard safety as a non-negotiable bottom line and continuously increase safety investments, while more clients currently prioritize efficiency metrics
As an insurer, although we do not directly engage in energy storage technology R&D, we can empower the industry by establishing benchmarking systems. Our newly launched "Online Risk Assessment System for Electrochemical Energy Storage Power Stations" constructs a risk quantification model based on AI algorithms. When clients input relevant parameters, the system generates a risk score and indicates its percentile ranking within the industry.
More importantly, the system can further generate a risk diagnosis report, precisely identifying weak risk links based on compliant interactions between client data and third-party data. As the ecosystem expands and data accumulates, analysis accuracy will continue to improve. By achieving triple functions of risk quantification, benchmarking, and diagnosis, we are promoting the establishment of a more scientific risk management mechanism in the industry.
Chief Producer: Zhao Haijian
Supervising Producer: Shi Shi
Editor: Li Yinong
Reporter: Lu Taoran, Li Deshangyu
Video Editor: Cai Yutian
New Media Coordination: Ding Qingyun, Zeng Tingfang, Lai Xi, Huang Daxun
Overseas Operations Supervising Producer: Huang Yanshu
Overseas Content Coordinator: Huang Zihao
Overseas Operations Editors: Zhuang Huan, Wu Wanjie, Long Lihua, Zheng Quanyi
Produced by: Southern Finance Omnimedia Group
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