Nio has signed a cooperation agreement with China Huaneng Group, one of the country's largest power generators, to link its battery-swap network to virtual power plant operations. The deal, signed in Xiong'an New Area, was announced by Nio and reported by Chinese outlet Gasgoo.
What the partnership covers
Under the framework, Huaneng's marketing department and Nio Energy will collaborate on virtual power plants, electricity trading, and green power certificates. The two sides said their capabilities are complementary in these areas, and the group-level agreement will provide standardized guidance for Huaneng's regional energy sales companies to work with Nio, aiming to improve efficiency and cut transaction costs.
A virtual power plant aggregates distributed energy resources—such as battery storage and flexible loads—to provide grid services like frequency regulation, peak shaving, and demand response. Nio's network of battery-swap stations is well suited for this role because each station holds multiple batteries that can be charged or discharged based on grid needs.
Nio's charging network by the numbers
As of September 17, Nio had built 9,372 charging and swapping stations across China, including 4,090 battery-swap stations and 5,282 charging stations, with a total of 30,431 charging piles. The company has completed over 120 million battery swaps and more than 200 million total charging and swapping services.
Nio's battery-swap network is a significant adjustable load resource, according to the company, and can participate in grid frequency regulation, peak shaving, and demand response. As the infrastructure expands, Nio says the network will further tap into its energy regulation value within the new power system, beyond serving user travel needs.
