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Wang Changlin, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), announced that the free trade port will launch island-wide independent customs operation on December 18, 2025. The proportion of tariff lines with zero-tariff products in Hainan Free Trade Port will increase from 21 percent to 74 percent.
On June 10, 2021, the 29th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress passed the Hainan Free Trade Port Law of the People's Republic of China, which determined to establish and improve the Hainan Free Trade Port customs supervision special zone system with closed-off customs operations on the entire island.
An aerial drone photo shows a duty-free shopping mall in Sanya, South China's Hainan province, May 29, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua] The Hainan Free Trade Port will launch island-wide independent customs operations on Dec 18, a key step in transforming the tropical island into a globally significant free trade hub, a senior official announced Wednesday.
"With the independent customs operations, Hainan FTP is poised to become a key gateway for China's new era of opening up and innovation," Cai added. China's Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) is set to launch an island-wide independent customs operation on Dec. 18, 2025, underscoring the country's wider push for high-standard opening up.
The Juba Solar Power Station is a proposed 20 MW (27,000 hp) solar power plant in South Sudan. The solar farm is under development by a consortium comprising Elsewedy Electric Company of Egypt, Asunim Solar from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and I-kWh Company, an energy consultancy firm also based in the UAE.
The 20MW solar plant can generate sufficient power to supply electricity to up to 16,000 households in Juba, significantly reducing energy costs and bolstering grid reliability, said the project’s developer.
Most of the electricity in the country is concentrated in Juba the capital and in the regional centers of Malakal and Wau. At that time the demand for electricity in the county was estimated at over 300 MW and growing. Nearly all electricity sources in the country are fossil-fuel based, with attendant challenges of cost and environmental pollution.
The BESS includes smart inverters, smart transformers (STSs) and smart loggers. The project was developed and financed in-house by Ezra Construction and Development Group, a subsidiary of the Ezra Group, a family-run conglomerate based in South Sudan.
For certain projects, backup power must be provided for the BESS auxiliary load as required by the BESS supplier or fire codes. Some BESS suppliers mandate uninterrupted power to maintain the operation of thermal management systems, ensuring battery temperatures remain within desired limits to minimize degradation.
Project owners are also responsible for the electricity costs associated with the BESS auxiliary load during operation. The electricity cost for auxiliary loads depends on the energy consumption (kWh) and the pricing structure set by independent system operators or utilities. For example:
Some BESS suppliers mandate uninterrupted power to maintain the operation of thermal management systems, ensuring battery temperatures remain within desired limits to minimize degradation. BESS fire safety standards, such as NFPA 855, outline minimum requirements for backup power for fire safety systems.
If a BESS product cannot meet these backup power requirements as mandated by the code or the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), an external backup power source needs to be provided. Options for backup power include local distribution network feeders (if available with sufficient kVA rating) or backup generators.
Due to the wide range of BESS capabilities as mentioned above, Korean power system plans to provision BESS to relieve generation curtailment and to provide FR service in the short-term applications, and to maintain frequency stability by providing FFR service in a low-inertia system for the long-term applications.
Market mechanism Korea's BESS sector has experienced significant growth, with an installed capacity of 1.6 GW at the end of 2019 (Yoen, 2022). Despite initial economic challenges, government policies have driven BESS market expansion by fostering technology development and policy initiatives.
In total, 14 companies were involved, including HD Hyundai Electric, Hyosung Heavy Industries, LS Electric, Samsung SDI, LG Energy Solution, and others. HD Hyundai Electric announced the completion and start of operation of its 336MW BESS for the utility a couple of months ago.
(Li et al., 2023) BESS utilize several types of battery technologies, including Li-ion, lead-acid, redox flow, sodium-sulphur, zinc-bromine flow batteries, and solid-state batteries, with new ones continuously being introduced (Rahman, 2020).
