Ten keywords for energy storage development in 2022

2022 is almost the most difficult year for all walks of life in the country. However, with pressure from all sides, new vitality is brewing. Energy storage people are still passionate and full of expectations. Various energy storage keywords such as new energy storage, sodium electricity, lithium carbonate, household storage, electrochemical energy storage, and energy storage batteries are grabbing the hearts of energy storage people. The value space of the trillion-level energy storage track has given people in the industry a reason to fight for it.

Looking back at 2022, does the energy storage industry have enthusiasm in the midst of the "restless hustle and bustle", or is it already heading for the "first year of explosion"? Sort out the top ten keywords of the energy storage industry in 2022, and understand the future development path together.

Ten key words of energy storage

PART.1 Electricity price rise

In April 2022, Shandong Province promulgated the "Notice on Improving Residents' Time-of-Use Electricity Policy", and the peak electricity price will increase by 0.03 yuan per kWh (including tax, the same below); the valley section electricity price will be reduced by 0.17 yuan; in the second half of 2022, my country's Hebei, Henan, Jiangxi and other places have successively introduced electricity price adjustment policies, which have greatly increased the peak and valley electricity price income level of energy storage projects.

According to incomplete statistics, from June to July 2022, 16 countries and regions including Germany, Japan, South Korea, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States announced the news of rising electricity prices 500%.

The biggest factor restricting the development of the domestic energy storage industry is the rate of return on investment. Among the various income models of energy storage, the electricity price level is one of the biggest influencing factors. If the electricity price rises during peak hours and falls during off-peak hours, it means that the revenue from peak and valley electricity prices will be greatly improved.

PART.2 New energy storage

The new type of energy storage has flexible configuration and quick response, which is more suitable for the consumption of new energy storage. Generally speaking, new energy storage refers to new energy storage technologies other than pumped storage, including mechanical energy storage, electrochemical energy storage, chemical energy storage, thermal energy storage, electromagnetic energy storage and other technical routes.

With the rise of electricity prices and the reduction of costs, the heat of new energy storage will also become higher and higher. According to the forecast of the National Development and Reform Commission/Electric Academy of Sciences, the installed capacity of my country's new energy storage market will exceed 30GW by 2025, and the installed capacity of new energy storage will reach 150 million kilowatts in 2030.

PART.3 Mandatory allocation of reserves

In order to boost the development of the energy storage industry and reduce problems such as abandoning wind and solar, compulsory allocation of storage will be implemented as early as 2020 in Shandong Province, a province with a large photovoltaic installed capacity, and a market mechanism has been initially established. Since 2021, especially since 2022, the national Implemented in more than 20 places. Since the mandatory allocation of storage has increased the investment cost of new energy power generation, the industry has initiated many discussions on the universality of the policy, which has gradually inspired a number of new policies, new methods, and new hotspots such as shared energy storage and electricity price adjustments.

PART.4 Security incidents

Safety, performance and cost are the three "thresholds" that must be resolved for the large-scale development of energy storage. If the security issue is not resolved, everything else is "zero". As important as energy storage is to energy strategy and energy transformation, its safe development affects people's hearts. In 2022, there will be frequent safety accidents in the energy storage industry, and each occurrence of a fire accident of varying degrees will cause a burst of anxiety inside and outside the industry.

Power station accidents occur frequently, and lithium battery thermal runaway is one of the main reasons for energy storage system safety accidents. During the charging and discharging process of lithium batteries, a part of chemical energy or electrical energy is converted into thermal energy. If the heat dissipation of the energy storage system is not good, it may cause thermal runaway, resulting in battery short circuit, bulge, open flame, and eventually fire, explosion and other safety accidents.

Energy storage thermal management is the key to ensure the continuous and safe operation of energy storage systems. Thermal management accounts for a relatively small amount of value, but it plays a vital role.

PART.5 Solar-storage fusion

With the increasing willingness of the country to allocate and store new energy sources, the concept of "integration of solar energy and storage" has attracted attention from all walks of life. Photovoltaic-storage integration is not a simple combination of photovoltaic system and energy storage system, but depends on the deep integration of technology to maximize the efficiency and economy of the energy storage system. For example, before the construction of the project, according to the technical conditions and the situation of the project location, the energy storage inverter model, battery type, energy management system, etc. can be adjusted to improve the project's operating efficiency and revenue.

Since the second half of 2022, there has been a significant increase in domestic bidding projects for the integration of wind, wind and storage. On November 11, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the National Energy Administration jointly issued the "Notice on Launching the Third Batch of Smart Photovoltaic Pilot Demonstration Activities". Emphasize the need to support the cultivation of a number of smart photovoltaic demonstration enterprises and the construction of a number of smart photovoltaic demonstration projects. One of the priority directions is the integration of solar energy and storage. Apply new energy storage technologies and products to improve the stability of photovoltaic power generation, grid friendliness and consumption capacity, including multi-energy complementarity, photovoltaic hydrogen production, photovoltaic DC systems, self-generation, self-storage and self-use, etc.

PART.6 Source Network Load Storage

In order to further deepen the energy revolution and build a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system, in March 2021, The National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions of the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration on Promoting the Integration of Power Sources, Networks, Loads and Storage and Multi-Energy Complementary Development". In order to ensure the safe, stable and efficient operation of the power system, it is necessary to accelerate the integration of source-grid-load-storage and multi-energy complementary development to ensure the smooth consumption of large-scale new energy, and the integration of source-grid-load-storage came into being.

So far, the source-network-load-storage has been officially implemented for nearly two years. From the perspective of actual projects, there are few integrated projects that conform to the concept of source-network-load-storage. Most of the demonstration projects are more inclined to the integration of solar energy and storage.

Source-grid-load-storage involves many aspects such as power generation side, power grid side, and user side. At present, "integration of source-grid-load-storage" has been put into practice in my country due to its high degree of emphasis. Four demonstration projects of "integration of source, network, load and storage" have been built in the office area of Shanghai Institute of Economics and Research; the zero-carbon industrial park in Mengsu Economic Development Zone, Ejin Horo Banner, Ordos, etc.

Judging from the current practice of various provinces, the shared energy storage model is increasingly recognized by the market due to its multiple advantages and win-win model.

One is because of multiple advantages. Compared with the decentralized development mode of new energy self-provisioned energy storage, shared energy storage has multiple advantages such as more efficient dispatching and operation, more controllable safety and quality, and more prominent economic benefits. Large-scale procurement of energy storage equipment and construction can reduce the cost of energy storage power stations, reduce the initial investment pressure of project construction and future operational risks.

The second is because of the win-win model. The key to the promotion and application of the shared energy storage model is to stably share the revenue source of the energy storage power station and establish a sustainable commercial operation path. The state clearly encourages new energy companies to fulfill their consumption responsibilities by building or purchasing energy storage peak-shaving capacity. Therefore, new energy companies can purchase a certain percentage of energy storage capacity from shared energy storage power stations and pay rent on an annual basis. In addition to collecting rent from new energy companies, shared energy storage can also participate in various power markets to obtain corresponding income, which is used to make up for operating costs and improve project economics.

According to incomplete statistics of public information, there will be 127 new shared energy storage projects in 2022, with a total construction scale of over 17.15GW/38GWh.

PART.7 Energy Storage Technology

After the continuous investment of the country and industry during the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" and "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan", the level of China's energy storage technology has been rapidly improved. Compressed air energy storage, thermal energy storage, lead-acid batteries, lithium-ion batteries, flow batteries and Sodium-ion batteries have reached or approached the world's advanced level. Important progress has also been made in key technologies and inheritance demonstration. China has become one of the main core countries in the world's energy storage technology research and development and demonstration.

PART.8 Household energy storage

The global household savings is booming, and the main driving factors come from two aspects, one is the continuous increase in policy support, and the other is the economic drive of high returns.

Household energy storage audiences are mainly distributed in the European market. In 2022, due to rising energy costs and electricity prices in Europe, the impact of local conflicts will be superimposed. The residential energy storage market has exploded beyond expectations.

The domestic household energy storage market is still in its infancy. The proportion of new energy in my country is increasing significantly, and the domestic market is also paying a lot of attention to household energy storage. However, due to reasons such as cost and market demand, it is far from reaching the level of household storage explosion. At present, the main revenue area of domestic household savings related companies is still overseas markets.

PART.9 Energy Storage IPO

As the first year of energy storage in China, the capital market also has high hopes for the energy storage sector in 2022. According to incomplete statistics, as of November, there are a total of 294 listed companies in the A-share energy storage sector, 333 listed companies in the lithium battery sector, and 44 in the sodium-ion battery sector.

In 2022, hundreds of related companies in the energy storage industry will be established with a registered amount of 42.3 billion yuan, including 43 new energy storage technology service companies, 54 new battery companies, and 7 pumped storage companies. The entry of new forces has made the competition in the energy storage industry, which is already in short supply of talents, more intense, and it is not uncommon to rob people and mines. Talent and upstream mineral resources have also gradually become important bargaining chips for energy storage companies to attract the capital market.