Opportunities and challenges of energy storage in the dual carbon context

 

 

Energy storage(such as home energy storage) has the adjustment function of energy storage and release, which can efficiently realize the time and space migration of energy and improve the stability of the power system. It will gradually become a rigid demand and a standard configuration. Energy storage can maintain the dynamic balance of power generation and power consumption in all aspects of the power grid, and can become an important guarantee for the stable operation of the source, grid, and load of the new power system.
Opportunities in the era of energy storage marketization are about to open, and there are still 4 major challenges: safety highlights, lifespan does not meet industry expectations, costs need to be optimized, and intelligence is not enough. Intelligence empowers energy storage, energy storage will show the following four development characteristics in the future:

  • Large-scale energy storage power station cluster coordination and distributed energy storage aggregation coordination are the key directions for the intelligent development of energy storage platforms;
  • In the future, the waterfall-style one-way flow will be transformed into a two-way, interactive, autonomous and collaborative energy interconnection ecology;
  • The end point of the future time-of-use electricity price is the electricity spot market;
  • The ability to predict electricity prices determines the profitability of energy storage to participate in the electricity market.

1.Energy storage will usher in great market opportunities

The top 4 greenhouse gas emitting countries (China, the United States, the EU27 plus the United Kingdom, and India) account for 55% of global emissions. At present, more than 120 countries around the world have announced or are considering achieving "net-zero emissions" goals. The increase in the proportion of wind power and terminal power makes power security (fluctuation, uncertainty, load from passive to active) a huge challenge.

Energy storage will usher in great market opportunities

 

Carbon neutrality will inevitably bring about two major trends, one is the rapid increase in the proportion of new energy power generation, and the other is the rapid increase in the proportion of electricity terminal consumption. The combined action of these two trends will lead to dramatic changes in the power system. After the new power system has become a trend, the volatility, intermittency of new energy and the uncertainty of terminal electrical, put forward higher requirements on the adjustable resource capacity of the entire power grid.

From the perspective of the market environment, many wind and solar energy storage deployment mechanisms are not perfect, the utilization rate of energy storage is insufficient, and many times there will be a situation of "value but no price". With the reform of the electricity market, energy storage will actively participate in the electricity market and use the price to reflect its value. The utilization rate of energy storage has been continuously improved, and the income can be better guaranteed. Policy-driven energy storage will gradually become market-oriented, further promoting the development of energy storage.

2.Four major challenges of energy storage still exists

The future of the entire energy storage market is promising, but challenges also exist. Thanks to the development of electric vehicles, electrochemical energy storage based on best lithium batteries has developed very rapidly in recent years, and this growth trend will continue for a long time. It is predicted that by 2025, the energy storage market will reach a trillion scale. The challenges mainly come from the following four aspects:

4 major challenges of energy storage still exists

① Safety

Safety has become the industry's first demand. According to incomplete statistics, in the first half of 2022, 14 fire accidents related to energy storage occurred worldwide. Energy storage safety is a systemic issue with many incentives. High-quality core components and reliable systems are very important. 

② Lifespan

The battery life of energy storage and the throughput of electricity throughout the life cycle need to be further improved. The current industry level is mostly 15 years, but the industry expectation has exceeded 25 years. Long-life energy storage batteries and whole life cycle optimization technology are important supports to achieve this goal.

③ Cost

Cost is one of the important factors hindering the rapid development of this industry. In the past ten years, the cost of lithium-ion battery systems has been reduced by 85%; by 2025, the cost of energy storage systems will continue to decline. Cost optimization is under great pressure, and standardization/high integration is particularly critical.

④ Intelligent

With the construction of a new power system, the traditional power system of "source-following-load" will be gradually broken, and higher requirements will be placed on the energy storage system. In the future, energy aggregation and energy consumption optimization will become the focus of technology.

3.Intelligence empowers energy storage safety and utilization improvement

In the face of the 4r major challenges, what kind of energy storage system is needed? Combined with the fundamental demands of the industry, based on safety and durability, the development concept of intelligent empowerment is proposed. While improving the safety and utilization of energy storage, it brings a smart experience of smart energy and flexible electricity consumption. In view of the industry's primary problem - safety, the concept of full cell safety, all-round safety, and full-life safety is proposed to intelligently realize the whole process of production, delivery and operation. 

Intelligence empowers energy storage safety and utilization improvement

 

The safety of all cells means that the state of the cells can be detected, the signs of accidents can be found, and the overcharge, over-discharge, overheating protection, leakage, abuse and thermal runaway of the cells can be identified and handled. All-round safety includes all-round safety such as chemical, mechanical, electrical and functional. Life-cycle safety refers to tracking, recording, storing, analyzing and running data through the entire life cycle of the intelligent platform, giving early warning of dangers, and achieving optimal operating status and intelligent operation and maintenance.

The energy storage industry will usher in an explosive period. At a critical period in which both opportunities and challenges coexist in energy storage, companies need to continue to explore the pain points of the industry, and seize opportunities to meet challenges through continuous research and development of technologies. In the future, energy storage technologies and application scenarios will be more diverse. When it comes to the energy storage industry, you may want to know the relevant layout of the leading companies in the energy storage field. The Top 10 energy storage lithium battery companies on our website will provide you with all-round information about the energy storage giants to help you understand more deeply their movements.