I. Core Phase-out Rules: Complete Ban on Production and Sales for Level 3 and Below
1. Mandatory Sales Ban List (Effective January 1, 2026)
Level 3 Energy Efficiency Air Compressors (Specific power > 7.2 kW/(m³/min) under 7.5 bar operating conditions): Banned from production, sales, and import; existing equipment stock must be phased out within a specified timeframe.
Level 4 and Lower Energy Efficiency: Have already exited the market ahead of schedule and possess no legal scope for circulation.
Only Level 1 (≤ 6.0) and Level 2 (≤ 6.5) units may be legally produced, sold, or imported.
2. Policy Basis and Scope of Phase-out
Policy Source: *Action Plan for Improving Industrial Energy Efficiency (2025–2027)* and NDRC Circular on Environmental Resources [2023] No. 269. These documents explicitly establish Level 3 as the minimum market threshold. In principle, the policy aims to phase out approximately 20% of obsolete equipment; when combined with the mandated cleanup of existing inefficient equipment stock, the actual total scale of the phase-out reaches 30%.
Core Standard: Based on GB 19153-2019, *Minimum Allowable Values of Energy Efficiency and Energy Efficiency Grades for Volumetric Air Compressors*, as the testing benchmark; lower specific power values correspond to higher energy efficiency.
II. Energy Efficiency Grading and Market Access Logic: A Three-Step Leap from "Minimum Thresholds" to "Advanced Standards"
1. Positioning of the Three Energy Efficiency Grades (NDRC Circular on Environmental Protection and Resource Conservation [2023] No. 269)
Table
Energy Efficiency Grade | Positioning | Specific Power Requirement (7.5 bar) | Applicable Scenarios
Grade 1 (Optimal) | Industry-Leading (Top 5%) | ≤ 6.0 | New construction projects, key energy-consuming entities, high-end manufacturing
Grade 2 | Energy-Saving Access (Top 20%) | ≤ 6.5 | Standard projects, upgrades of existing equipment
Grade 3 | Market Threshold (Minimum Standard) | ≤ 7.2 | Existing equipment prior to 2026; sales prohibited starting in 2026
2. Upgrade Logic
Grade 1 benchmarks against international advanced standards; its market penetration rate is projected to exceed 70% by 2026 (up from just 42% in 2023), thereby becoming the market mainstream.
Market access thresholds are set to rise by 8–10% compared to 2025, thereby compelling enterprises to engage in technological innovation and driving out small-scale manufacturers that lack core R&D capabilities.
III. Key Energy-Consuming Entities: Mandatory Online Monitoring and Data Integration
1. Scope of Application
For enterprises with an annual electricity consumption exceeding 5 million kWh, their air compression systems must be incorporated into an online energy consumption monitoring network and integrated with national or provincial-level energy consumption platforms.
2. Core Requirements
Monitoring Content: Key metrics such as real-time power consumption, air discharge volume, load rate, and leakage rate of air compressors; data collection frequency must be no less than once every 15 minutes.
Compliance Obligations: Data must be included in the annual Energy Utilization Status Report; entities are subject to energy conservation inspections. Failure to meet standards may result in production restrictions, mandatory rectification, or credit rating deductions.
Policy Basis: *Measures for the Energy Conservation Management of Key Energy-Consuming Entities* and NDRC General Office Circular on Environmental Protection and Resource Conservation [2024] No. 395, which explicitly link monitoring compliance to energy audits and energy conservation subsidies.
IV. Cascading Policy Impacts: Industry Landscape and Market Restructuring
1. Market Size and Structure
By 2026, the market size of China's air compressor industry is projected to reach 85–100 billion RMB; by 2030, it is expected to surpass 107 billion RMB. The primary driver of this growth will be the replacement of existing equipment with Grade 1 energy-efficient units. Exports: Projected to exceed US$3.5 billion by 2026; high-end, Grade 1 energy-efficiency equipment is expected to account for over 20% of the total, with Southeast Asia and the Middle East emerging as key growth markets.
2. Brand Shakeout
Market Concentration: The top five players (Deman, Fusheng, Baode, Baosi, and Xinlei) continue to increase their market share, with the CR5 ratio surpassing 60%.
Decisive Factors: Energy-saving technologies (such as two-stage compression and permanent magnet variable frequency drives) combined with intelligent connectivity (including AI-adaptive control and predictive maintenance); companies such as Sazhen, Atlas Copco, and Ingersoll Rand are leading the pack in the energy-efficiency sector.
3. Business Model Transformation
BOT Gas Supply Model: Companies incur zero upfront costs for equipment installation and pay based on actual gas consumption; this model is ideally suited for maintenance-intensive environments-such as those found in the lithium battery, food processing, and pharmaceutical industries-and is rapidly becoming the new industry mainstream.
CaaS (Compression-as-a-Service): A strategic shift from merely "selling equipment" to providing a comprehensive package of "equipment + maintenance + data analytics," wherein achieving total lifecycle cost reduction becomes the core competitive advantage.
V. Corporate Action Checklist: A Dual-Track Approach-Compliance + Cost Reduction
1. Compliance Baseline (Mandatory)
Equipment Inventory: Conduct a thorough audit of every air compressor unit, documenting its model, year of commissioning, energy efficiency grade, and specific power consumption; identify and flag all units rated Grade 3 or lower for eventual phase-out.
Procurement Redlines: Effective 2026, all new equipment purchases must be rated Grade 1 or Grade 2 and strictly comply with the GB 19153-2019 standard; any equipment lacking a valid energy efficiency label is strictly prohibited from entering the facility.
Monitoring System Deployment: Enterprises with an annual electricity consumption exceeding 5 million kWh must complete the deployment of an online monitoring system for their air compression infrastructure within three months to ensure the accurate and reliable uploading of operational data.
2. Cost Reduction & Efficiency Gains (Optional)
Priority Replacement: Replace aging oil-injected screw compressors commissioned prior to 2015 with Grade 1 energy-efficiency permanent magnet variable frequency units; this upgrade can yield a comprehensive energy savings rate ranging from 18% to 45%.
System Optimization: Install additional air storage tanks, repair leaks within the piping network, and implement AI-adaptive control systems to minimize no-load energy losses, thereby achieving energy savings of 10% to 20%. Subsidy Applications: Many regions are offering subsidies ranging from **10% to 30%** for the retrofitting of Level 1 energy-efficiency equipment (for instance, Fujian Province provides a subsidy of 300 RMB per kilowatt, with a cap of 3 million RMB per individual project).
VI. Conclusion: The Industry Logic Behind the Policies
The current wave of stringent regulation does not represent a "one-size-fits-all" approach to elimination; rather, it utilizes standards to drive technological advancement, employs monitoring to strengthen management, and leverages transformation to facilitate industrial upgrading. For enterprises, compliance serves as the baseline, energy conservation translates into profit, and intelligent solutions represent the future-early strategic planning yields early benefits, whereas delayed rectification results in doubled costs.
