Recently, contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd., Guo Xuan Hi-Tech and other enterprises have successively obtained large energy storage orders.
The explosion of energy storage is closely related to the powerful energy storage of new energy. According to the statistics of China Electric Power Enterprise Federation, up to now, nearly 30 provinces (cities, districts) have issued the "14th Five-Year Plan" or energy storage documents for new energy allocation, and vigorously developed "new energy plus energy storage".
Liu Yong, secretary-general of Energy Storage Application Branch of China Chemical and Physical Power Industry Association, told the Securities Daily that the main reason for China's current compulsory storage and distribution is that the policy takes into account the needs of the rapid development of renewable energy in the future, and at the same time, it is also to ensure that new energy power generation is fully absorbed and the power grid is stable, so as to avoid abandoning wind and light.
However, behind the energy storage carnival are a series of problems such as high cost and low utilization rate encountered by new energy enterprises in the process of strong energy storage, which leads to the low enthusiasm of related enterprises.
Under the goal of double carbon, "new energy+energy storage" is an inevitable development trend. But in this process, how can powerful energy storage play its due role better?
Powerful energy storage is expensive but difficult to use.
Recently, the China Electric Power Enterprise Federation issued the Investigation Report on the Operation of New Energy Transmission, Distribution and Energy Storage (hereinafter referred to as the Report), pointing out that up to now, the total development target of new energy storage planned by each province has exceeded 60 million kilowatts, which is twice the target of 30 million kilowatts in 2025 proposed by the National Energy Administration's Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Development of New Energy Storage.
In the process of vigorous development of energy storage industry, there are also many problems.
As mentioned in the above report, compared with thermal power plant energy storage and power grid energy storage, the utilization coefficient of new energy storage is the lowest.
In this regard, Liu Yong believes that on the one hand, the grid-connected scheduling rules of energy storage projects are not clear, and local implementation is not in place; On the other hand, the safety of energy storage projects has not been strictly evaluated and certified by the system, so the network-side dispatching may have psychological concerns. In addition, the proportion of renewable energy generation is not high, and the impact on the power grid is still small, so the stability of China's power grid can be basically guaranteed.
The bigger problem is not only the low investment rate, the report points out that the cost of new energy storage is higher than that of thermal power flexible transformation, pumped storage and other technologies. At present, the investment cost of new energy distribution and energy storage is mainly digested by new energy enterprises, and the rising cost of superimposed lithium-ion batteries has brought greater operating pressure to new energy enterprises.
"For the charging and discharging price of energy storage power stations, or how energy storage power stations participate in frequency modulation and peak shaving, the electricity price and frequency need to be relatively clear, so as to mobilize the energy storage of new energy power stations and actively participate in the electricity market." Qi Hongxun, vice president of Energy Storage Research Institute of China Electric Power Engineering Consulting Group Co., Ltd., said in an interview with Securities Daily that in recent years, due to the rising price of battery raw materials, the cost of energy storage has risen rapidly. The output of some enterprises is limited, and the quality of selected products is not very good, which also causes frequent safety hazards of some energy storage power stations.
The proportion of compulsory allocation and storage is open to question.
In addition to high cost and difficulty in use, the reporter also found in the interview that many enterprises mentioned that the proportion of compulsory allocation and storage of new energy is open to question.
"The scientific scale of energy storage allocation needs to be strengthened." The relevant person in charge of Three Gorges Energy said in an interview with the Securities Daily that at present, some areas regard energy storage allocation as a prerequisite for new energy construction, and at the same time adopt a "one-size-fits-all" allocation standard, which does not fully consider the obvious differences in regional wind resources, solar energy resources and electricity consumption capacity, resulting in an increasing proportion of energy storage on the power supply side.
The person in charge of China Nuclear Power also told the Securities Daily reporter that it is necessary to consider the scale of energy storage allocation and the frequency of energy storage calls as a whole, and formulate a scientific and reasonable proportion, duration and total scale of energy storage allocation. Formulate safeguard policies to ensure that participation in auxiliary services is the main application mode of energy storage, and at the same time ensure that energy storage plays a full role in the spot trading market to solve the problem of abandoning wind and light.
In fact, in April this year, the article "Improving the Compensation Mechanism for Energy Storage Costs" issued by the Price and Cost Survey Center of the National Development and Reform Commission clearly pointed out that the maturity and practicality of energy storage technology need to be improved. In some areas, supporting energy storage is a prerequisite for new energy power generation projects, but how to participate in power grid dispatching is still unclear. The market conditions for power supply side energy storage to participate in auxiliary services are not mature, the implementation effect of relevant policies is not good, the utilization rate of some supporting energy storage is low, and the enthusiasm of new energy enterprises for active investment is generally not high.
"I don't know if it can be scheduled after the transfer is put into storage, and how much space there is for scheduling. The allocation and storage of new energy are mostly policy-driven, mainly to get the "road" of new energy projects, and the actual market driving force is still relatively weak. " Liu Yong further mentioned this point.
This means that enterprises are largely "passive" in energy storage.
* * * Enjoying energy storage can break through the predicament?
Although there is a strong energy storage bottleneck in the short term, in the long run, "new energy+energy storage" is still the general trend under the goal of "double carbon".
"Energy storage is the only way for the development of new energy. If new energy power wants to become the main power source, it cannot be separated from energy storage. " Chen Bo, chairman of Jiaze Xinneng, said in an interview with Securities Daily that it is imperative to allocate storage, but now it is time to consider how to allocate storage.
The main reason why strong energy storage is difficult to be profitable and marketized is that the business model of energy storage is not clear enough, and * * * enjoying energy storage has become a new exploration direction of the industry.
It is understood that Shandong, Hunan, Zhejiang, Inner Mongolia and other provinces (regions) have successively issued guidance on energy storage construction to encourage investment in the construction of * * * energy storage power stations.
"* * * Enjoy energy storage" refers to a centralized large-scale independent energy storage power station invested and built by a third party, which not only meets the demand of its own power station, but also provides services for other new energy power stations. It will serve multiple individuals with energy storage that originally served only a single individual, and provide effective services for users through scientific coordinated control.
In Chen Bo's view, the energy storage on the power generation side is not directly scheduled by the power grid, but only a small reserve for the power plant. The income only depends on the difference between peak and valley electricity prices, the return on investment is low, and the enthusiasm for power generation side construction is not high. To solve this problem in a short period of time is to become * * * shared energy storage, which provides the functions of peak regulation, frequency modulation and voltage regulation for the stable and stable operation of the power grid. * * * Enjoy the energy storage of various power plants together, and build a large energy storage power plant, which will be directly dispatched by the power grid, so that there can be a peak-shaving price difference and a profit. Only by combining new energy and energy storage effectively and profitably can "new energy+energy storage" gradually become the real main power supply.
SDIC power related people also told the Securities Daily reporter that they are actively promoting the research and application of new technologies, new products and new processes for new energy storage with their partners in combination with new energy configuration and storage.