New energy power battery ladders take long roads and obstacles

Ladder utilization is considered to be an effective way to maximize the value of power batteries, but there is often a big gap between ideals and reality. Because of differences in power battery performance, specifications, etc., the power battery after decommissioning needs to undergo multiple inspections and other processes in order to use the ladder, which becomes the biggest obstacle to the utilization of decommissioned power battery ladders. Coupled with the problems of business model, circulation mechanism, etc., there are still many difficulties in realizing the use of the ladder.

Early power battery ladder utilization value is not big

In recent years, China's power battery technology has made rapid progress, both in terms of performance and density, and has effectively extended the service life. However, most of the power batteries that have been retired are the batteries that were put into the market early. These batteries have short service life, low energy density, and poor performance stability.

"Different uses will have different battery requirements. Taking energy storage batteries as an example, there are hard rules on the number of cycles of batteries, and it is difficult to meet the requirements after the early retirement of batteries." Mr. Liu, a battery trading company in Shenzhen Tell the reporter that the use of the ladder market has requirements for battery performance and quality, and the popularity of batteries from different manufacturers in the energy storage market is not the same. "Generally large battery manufacturers' products are more popular. For example, in Ningde era, the battery acceptance of some small manufacturers is very low." Mr. Liu introduced, especially the early power batteries, due to their quality, performance and other problems, in the ladder the use aspect is not optimistic.

Zhang Ying, secretary general of the China Recycling Resources Recycling Association's scrap car branch, also said in an interview with the China Auto News that some of the decommissioned power batteries have poor performance and high security risks, which is not suitable for the use of the ladder. This led to the problem of poor product quality at the beginning of the market, which cast a shadow over the large-scale deployment of the cascade.

In addition, Zhang Ying told reporters that different energy storage scenarios are not exactly the same for battery requirements, which requires that the decommissioned power battery must be tested, packaged and reorganized. It is understood that the current decommissioned power battery can be mainly used in low-speed electric vehicles, energy storage, renewable energy access, communication base station backup power supply and other fields, the battery requirements in different application areas are not the same. Taking the backup battery of the communication base station as an example, the battery performance requirement is not high, and large voltage and large current discharge are not required, and the backup battery required by a single communication base station is about 30 kWh. In addition, there is no need for a strong energy density, and there is no hard requirement for the size, but the battery has a high response performance. At present, lead-acid batteries are often used, but since lead-acid batteries have high temperature requirements, from this point of view, lead-acid batteries are not the best choice, and power lithium batteries are more suitable. Taking energy storage in the field of power generation and distribution as an example, this field requires higher requirements for decommissioned power batteries. “Because of slowing down and slowing down to achieve peak-filling and filling, the battery has high energy requirements, such as high frequency of use and high cycle life requirements. At present, the way of storing energy in this field mainly includes pumped storage and compressed air. Energy storage and storage capacity of sodium-sulfur batteries are affected by natural conditions and geographical restrictions, and the one-time investment cost is very high." Zhang Ying said.

And the battery performance cannot fully meet the needs of the cascade utilization, the decommissioned power battery mostly goes to the market in the form of battery pack, and in order to really use it again, it is necessary to test the single battery in the battery pack one by one, confirm each The state of the single battery, and packaging again to meet the different needs of different ladder utilization, this process is not only cumbersome, but also involves many aspects such as detection technology. At present, there are many types of power batteries, complex battery construction and no fixed standards, resulting in complicated dismantling and recycling processes, high recycling costs, lack of recycling enthusiasm, difficulty in forming industrialized operations, and immature restructuring techniques, and lack of government supervision and encouragement. Policy, power battery ladder utilization is difficult to form a scale. In an interview with China Automotive News, the person in charge of Beiqi New Energy said that the decommissioned power battery has problems such as high complexity, inconvenient disassembly poor consistency low quality, high cost of recycling and disassembly, and poor economy.

Mature business model is the premise of marketization.

The "Notice on Organizing the Pilot Work on Recycling and Utilization of New Energy Vehicles' power battery" announced this year clearly supports the support of China Railway Tower and other enterprises in pilot projects in various regions, giving full play to the advantages of enterprises and developing demonstration projects for the use of power battery ladders. The use of the ladder is included in the relevant management requirements as the first recycling route for the decommissioned power battery. It can be said that the green battery is used for the power battery ladder utilization, and related enterprises are actively exploring.

China's iron tower base station battery project is one of the best projects represented by China's power battery ladder. It is understood that the China Tower currently has 1.8 million base stations nationwide, and the total demand for energy storage batteries is about 146GWh. The replacement of the storage stations and the new power storage stations require about 25GWh of batteries per year. The 600,000 peak-cutting stations need batteries. 44GWh; 500,000 new energy stations require about 48GWh of battery, which requires a total of about 146GWh of battery. Based on the replacement cycle of the storage station battery for 6 years, the battery needs about 22.6GWh per year; with 100,000 new base stations per year, it is estimated that the new power station needs about 2.4GWh of battery. A total of approximately 25GWh of battery is required each year. Only China's iron tower base station construction has huge energy storage needs. From this point of view, the power battery ladder utilization has a large market demand. The data shows that before 2020, the decommissioned power battery is about 38.96GWh, which can only meet the 38% of the Chinese iron tower. It can be said that the decommissioned power battery cannot fully meet the market demand of the ladder. In an interview with China Automotive News, Mok, chief analyst of True Lithium Research, stressed that compared with traditional lead-acid batteries, decommissioned power batteries are more adaptable to temperature, more suitable for base station energy storage needs, and base station energy storage is strong. The market demand provides a better way for the utilization of the power battery, and it can be said that the use of the ladder has a broad market.

However, the ideal is very full, and the reality is often very skinny. In fact, there are currently many decommissioned power batteries that have not entered the ladder utilization market. In addition to the above-mentioned lack of battery performance, the greater reason is the lack of business models. “Although some new energy auto companies, power battery companies, and battery materials companies have the willingness to participate in the use of battery ladders, due to the lack of business model innovation, sustainable power battery recycling and utilization models are difficult to start.” Just as the relevant person in charge of BAIC New Energy The lack of a mature business model is currently the biggest factor plaguing the use of power battery ladders.

Ying Zhang said that the current low utilization rate of decommissioned power battery ladders is mainly due to the lack of standardization of power battery modules, and the difficulty in using the ladders is high and the cost is high. At the same time, the gray trading phenomenon is prominent, and some of the retired power batteries flow into illegal small workshops. Zhang Ying believes that to improve the utilization rate of the ladder, it is necessary to fully implement the producer responsibility extension system and the power battery traceability system to ensure that the decommissioned power battery flows into the ladder utilization enterprise and resource recovery enterprise; improve the quality level of the power battery and vigorously develop the power battery ladder Key technologies used to reduce the safety risks of battery ladder utilization; promote the standardization of power battery modules, realize the management of the life cycle of power batteries, integrate the use of ladders into the design and manufacturing process of power batteries, and reduce the difficulty of using ladders cost.

Stimulate market vitality and increase the utilization rate of ladders

It is gratifying to note that there have been various attempts to explore the business model. At the beginning of this year, China Tower and 16 car companies and battery companies signed a strategic partnership agreement for the recycling of new energy vehicles' power batteries to promote upstream and downstream integration and cooperation in the industry chain. All car companies, battery companies, and energy storage companies are also striving to form a closed-loop system for the use of power battery ladders through the establishment of alliances and joint ventures to improve the utilization of power batteries.

"At present, China's power battery ladder utilization industry is in the transition stage from demonstration project to commercialization. From 2014, State Grid Henan Electric Power Company and Nanrui Group, using decommissioned power batteries in Zhengzhou City, Jianshan true transmission line test base The first hybrid microgrid system was established. The Tata Group and BAIC New Energy jointly promoted the application of decommissioned power batteries in communication base stations. The commercialization of decommissioned power battery ladder utilization is gradually taking shape. However, China’s related enterprises are retiring power batteries. The use of the cascade has done some research and established a number of demonstration projects, but it has not formed a large-scale and market-oriented operation mode.” Zhang Ying emphasized that whether it is the use of the ladder or the direct scrap recycling, it is necessary to realize the participation of the main body. Therefore, in order to improve the utilization rate of the ladder, it is necessary to find a profitable business model, so that the participants can survive in the market operation.

As a battery trader, Mr. Liu's job is to find matching batteries based on the customer's secondary demand. “Customer needs are different, and the battery requirements are different. It is often necessary to reorganize the battery. In the process, some expenses will be incurred, which must be borne by the customer. It is limited by the current foundation and scale, when the cost reaches a certain level, our business is difficult to promote.” Mr. Liu told reporters that if the decommissioning power battery management can be standardized, the decommissioning power battery ladder utilization can form a large-scale development. This process not only requires the participation of the car companies and the demanders, but also needs strengthening management by relevant departments, especially from the design and process of original batteries, is essential. The person in charge of BAIC New Energy said: "We suggest that on the one hand, the industry needs to increase the research and development of key technologies for recycling and reuse, study battery standardization, implement traceability systems, and promote the utilization of ladders with strong management. On the other hand, in technology on the basis of economic analysis and evaluation, we will carry out pilot projects for innovative business models. After accumulating experience, we will replicate the development model of circular economy with promotion value to avoid rushing. In addition, enterprises also need to actively innovate and explore, accelerate the removal of institutional obstacles, to create conditions for business model innovation subjects to integrate resources across fields, and encourage more social resources to participate in the business model innovation of power battery recycling."

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