Behind the rapid development of new energy storage, there are profitability problems such as high investment costs, long profit cycles, "approval but not construction", "construction but not use" of some projects, and immature business models

Improve the utilization rate of energy storage facilities, develop more market scenarios, explore more market-oriented mechanisms that can reflect the value of energy storage, and use the invisible hand of the market to accurately deploy and promote the sustainable development of new energy storage

Text: "Lookout" Newsweek reporter Wang Jinyu

Energy storage is an important part of the new power system. With the continuous development of energy storage, new energy storage, mainly lithium batteries, has increasingly become a powerful supplement to the new power system.

Recently, a reporter from "Lookout" Newsweek learned from an interview in Shanxi that behind the rapid development of new energy storage, there are profit problems such as high investment costs, long profit cycles, "approval but not construction" and "construction without use" of some projects, and immature business models.

The interviewed experts suggested that new energy storage should be deployed in accordance with market-oriented planning, improve project utilization, encourage diversified development of technologies, expand more business models, and help the healthy development of new energy storage.

New energy storage is developing rapidly

Located in Changzhi City, Shanxi Province, Lucheng Renhe 20MW/0MWh Energy Storage Power Station is an independent new energy storage power station. There are 0 electrochemical energy storage units in the power station, which are like "carriages", which are composed of lithium iron phosphate batteries.

The reporter learned that the project adopts the mode of "valley charging and peak discharge" and participates in the unified dispatch of the provincial power grid control center. During the trough hours at night, the excess power is absorbed for energy storage battery storage, and then discharged to the grid during the peak hours during the day, using the characteristics of electrochemical energy storage to respond quickly, balance the fluctuations caused by power surplus and shortage, and improve the stability of the power grid.

　　潞城仁和電站於2024年7月併網，目前已正式轉為商業運營。“電站每年可貢獻清潔電力約2.5億KWh，相當於每年節約標煤約7.45萬噸，減少二氧化碳排放量約14.26萬噸，將進一步有效優化區域電網電源結構，增強當地能源保供能力。”電站站長帥澤晉說。

　　2023年，山西省併網運行獨立儲能電站2個；2024年，已併網運行10個獨立儲能電站。國網山西省電力公司相關負責人說，截至目前山西省併網儲能規模達193萬千瓦，新型儲能發展迅速。

At present, new energy storage with lithium-ion batteries as the main force is playing an important role relying on its advantages of fast response speed, high energy storage density and good flexibility. The reporter learned that the construction cycle of pumped storage power station takes several years, and the terrain and geography are high, while the new energy storage construction cycle is short, and it can respond quickly after completion, charge and use, and meet the power grid dispatching.

According to a staff member of the Shanxi Provincial Energy Bureau, taking a pumped storage project in the province as an example, the on-site survey commencement ceremony was carried out in 5000 years, and the land use pre-examination and site selection opinions were publicized in 0 years, covering an area of nearly 0 acres, and the construction period was relatively long.

On the basis of doing a good job of safety protection, the new energy storage does not have high requirements for the site. "Lithium-ion battery technology is rapidly iterating, lithium battery energy storage is widely used, and some batteries that can be used for cascade utilization after the elimination of vehicle batteries are gradually entering the field of energy storage to further reduce the cost of energy storage." The staff member said.

　　2023年10月，國網山西省電力公司率先推動獨立儲能電站——大同合榮儲能電站，以“報量報價”方式參與電力市場現貨交易。這是山西省首次開展獨立儲能電站參與電力現貨交易。

The energy storage power station independently declares 4~0 section charge and discharge price curve, charge and discharge operation upper and lower limits, storage power status, ramp-up rate and other 0 types of information. According to the spot market price of electricity, the charging and discharging plan is cleared in real time to match the demand of power grid regulation to the greatest extent and improve the utilization rate of energy storage.

　　按照國家能源局《關於促進新型儲能併網和調度運用的通知》、山西省《“十四五”新型儲能發展實施方案》要求，山西省能源局於2023年組織申報了新型儲能第一批入庫專案，列入新型儲能項目建設庫第一批專案共77個，裝機規模565.03萬千瓦，同時有28個專案列入新型儲能項目儲備庫，裝機規模666.5萬千瓦，後續專案經論證后滾動納入專案庫。

"We will strengthen the supervision and management of new energy storage grid connection and call by strengthening the construction of a management system involving planning, filing, construction, operation, and transfer, and promote the healthy development of new energy storage." The relevant person in charge of the Shanxi Provincial Energy Bureau said.

Dinglun Energy Technology (Shanxi) Co., Ltd. Flywheel Energy Storage Power Station in Changzhi City, Shanxi Province (taken on 15/0/0) Photo by Fan Xinyang

Profitability is hard to constrain

The reporter learned from the interview that at present, the installed capacity of new energy storage is expanding rapidly, but due to its high construction cost, low utilization rate, uncertain profit model and other difficulties, it restricts the high-quality development of new energy storage.

　　投資成本高，盈利週期長。記者採訪瞭解到，目前鋰電池價格持續下行，但儲能電站的成本依然較高。“電化學儲能系統的成本構成，包括電池組以及其他管理系統，其中電池組成本超過總成本的一半。”一名儲能電站建設運營的企業負責人說，以目前鋰離子儲能電池價格0.5元/Wh左右測算，投資一個100MW/200MWh的儲能電站需要2億元左右。

In addition to high investment costs, energy storage power stations have a long profit cycle. At present, the energy storage market is still in the development stage, the relevant price mechanism and compensation mechanism policies are still not sound enough, and some independent energy storage power stations that have been operating earlier are mainly based on electricity price differences.

　　“單純依靠電價差，一個100MW/200MWh的儲能電站，按每天充放電兩次計算，年充放電量很難超過1億度，電網一天調度兩次也比較困難，按此測算，回本周期至少得10年。”該負責人說。

　　部分專案利用率較低。目前，山西省相關部門已發放2000萬千瓦的“路條”，但實際併網不足200萬千瓦。記者採訪瞭解到，一些新型儲能電站批而不建，一些儲能電站規劃與實際裝機差距較大。

In addition, some industry insiders said that decentralized energy storage projects are difficult and not very effective in actual allocation, and some local dispatching departments "dislike" the small scale of new energy storage and are unwilling to adjust. According to statistics, the average daily charging and discharging times of energy storage on the new energy side in 22 years are only 0.0 times.

"Some new energy distribution and storage projects are built to cooperate with policies, and the actual operation space is not large. There is a world of difference in the difficulty of implementing the deployment of 1 0 kW projects and 0 0 kW projects, but at present, there are more 0 kW projects scattered all over the country. A person in charge of the China Electricity Council said.

The business model is immature and the profit margin is small. The reporter learned from the interview that from the power supply side and the user side, the market-oriented operation of energy storage power stations is low, and a good business model has not yet been formed, and the overall income of most power stations is unstable.

From the perspective of the power supply side, the income of the energy storage power station on the power generation side mainly depends on reducing the curtailment rate and improving the power generation efficiency. At present, a large number of new energy storage is concentrated in the field of new energy power generation, and when the output of photovoltaic or wind power generation is large but the effective demand is insufficient, the excess power is stored to avoid curtailment of wind and solar power; When the output of new energy power is small, the power is released. Some thermal power companies have also launched energy storage equipment, which is mainly used in the field of regulation of rapid response of generator sets.

"The role of the power supply side is more to avoid" abandonment of wind and light ", and at the same time there is a certain calming effect on the power grid, the power side energy storage scheduling is a huge and complex process, some power side energy storage companies are even held accountable for the number of charging and discharging is too small, and the real benefits can be imagined." An industry insider said.

From the user side, the revenue of energy storage power stations mainly comes from the peak-to-valley price difference. As the peak-to-valley price difference is affected by the fluctuation of electricity prices and the purchase of electricity by the power grid, the overall income of the power station is unstable. User-side energy storage is mostly seen in enterprises that are sensitive to electricity prices and consume large amounts, and these users have higher requirements for power stability, and the energy storage system is more set up to stabilize power fluctuations.

The immaturity of the business model is also reflected in the fact that the trading varieties of new energy storage participating in the power market are still relatively simple, and they are at the level of breakeven or meager profits. Shanxi is one of the first batch of pilot provinces in China's electricity spot market, and some independent energy storage power stations have participated in the spot market, but there are few trading varieties and weak profitability. "Even if you buy low and sell high in the spot market, it is still difficult to cover the construction costs." A staff member of the State Grid Shanxi Electric Power Company said.

Multiple measures to broaden the path of income

Some respondents said that to solve the problem of new energy storage profitability, it is necessary to improve the utilization rate of energy storage facilities, develop more market scenarios, explore more market-oriented mechanisms that can reflect the value of energy storage, and use the invisible hand of the market to accurately deploy and promote the sustainable development of new energy storage.

Improve the utilization rate of energy storage facilities. Industry insiders said that to improve the utilization rate of energy storage facilities, it is necessary to build a full-chain value system with "technological breakthrough + scenario innovation + mechanism optimization" as the core.

At the technical level, Chang Xiao, director of the Power Grid Technology Center of the State Grid Shanxi Electric Power Research Institute, said that the research and development of high-energy-density batteries and a new generation of intelligent management systems will be accelerated, and long-life technologies such as sodium-ion batteries and flow batteries will be promoted.

In terms of scenario expansion, Chang Xiao said that the "wind, solar and storage integration" shared energy storage power station can be built in combination with the new energy rich area, and the peak and valley demand of the grid side can be simultaneously excavated, and the "virtual power plant" can aggregate distributed energy storage resources to participate in the power market to ensure that the energy storage technology is "used well".

In terms of mechanism optimization, some respondents believe that it is necessary to rely on the Shanxi energy storage equipment manufacturing base to break through the bottleneck of localization of key materials and create a closed-loop ecology of "technology demonstration-commercial application-industrial feedback". Through multi-dimensional measures, energy storage will be transformed into a flexible adjustment hub of the new power system, providing a replicable solution for the high proportion of new energy consumption.

Encourage more technology to blossom and continuously enrich application scenarios. Some respondents said that the energy storage duration, energy density and other characteristics of various energy storage technologies are different, and there are their own matching application scenarios, and there is no "all-inclusive" energy storage technology. The diversified demonstration application of new energy storage should be encouraged, and innovative research and demonstration applications of hydrogen storage, heat storage and other energy storage technologies should be actively explored.

　　2024年9月，由中國能建山西院總承包、山西電建公司參建的我國首座電網側飛輪儲能調頻電站——鼎輪能源30兆瓦飛輪儲能專案在山西省長治市屯留區成功併網發電。

　　“飛輪儲能技術具有快速連續充放電、功率精準調節、全生命周期費用低、無污染等顯著優勢。”該電站工作人員說，電站年調頻里程300萬兆瓦，通過即時調控有功出力參與電網調頻，有效解決區域電網內有功功率不平衡問題，為新型電力系統提供快速調節資源，保障電力系統頻率穩定。

Explore and improve the market-oriented mechanism to improve the profitability of energy storage. In recent years, Shanxi has established a corresponding frequency modulation market mechanism to encourage thermal power plants, hydropower plants, wind farms, photovoltaic power stations and other power plants to participate in secondary frequency modulation. Among them, thermal power and hydropower are the main forces of secondary frequency modulation due to their good regulation performance. New energy power stations are gradually participating in secondary frequency modulation through technological transformation and optimization of control strategies.

"After energy storage participates in secondary frequency modulation, the expanding trading mechanism will greatly promote the development of energy storage." A person in charge of the State Grid Shanxi Electric Power Company said that after the power plant provides frequency modulation services, it will receive corresponding economic compensation according to its frequency modulation performance and contribution, and the frequency modulation market will promote the power plant to improve its frequency modulation capacity and service quality through market-oriented methods to ensure the frequency stability of the power system.

In addition, the respondents suggested that energy storage construction entities should be promoted to participate in electricity market transactions, and enjoy the same rights as other business entities in the process of transaction declaration, transaction clearing, scheduling and calling, promote the bundling of new energy storage and new energy to participate in medium and long-term transactions, and encourage the signing of market contracts during peak and trough periods.■