Energy storage market trend emerging but still lost to lithium batteries

"In the past three years, the cost of lithium electric energy storage systems has rapidly decreased by 50 %, and the second 50 % seems to be within reach in the next three years. With the rapid decrease of energy storage cost, it can be expected that the rapid growth of electric vehicles and power grid energy storage projects, the rapid development of the energy storage industry is expected to become the basic driving force for power transformation and energy transformation. On April 11th, Yuzhenhua, chairman of the Energy Storage Industry Technology Alliance, pointed out in the newly released White Paper on Energy Storage Industry Research 2016(hereinafter referred to as the White Paper).

The aristocratic equipment that has been criticized by the industry, storage energy, has appeared in the industry this year with a new attitude.

Lithium technology plays a leading role

The White Paper pointed out that from the point of view of the technical distribution of China's energy storage market, in the operation of the project, the applied energy storage technology is mainly lithium ion batteries, lead batteries and liquid-flow batteries, and the cumulative installed capacity of lithium ion batteries accounts for the largest. It accounts for two-thirds of the total installed capacity in the Chinese market. Yuzhenhua told this reporter: "The development of power cells has led to a decline in energy storage costs. It is understood that domestic manufacturers of energy storage projects are mainly concentrated in lithium ion batteries, lead batteries and liquid-flow battery technology manufacturers. As of the end of 2015, among the top ten manufacturers of Chinese energy storage projects, the number of lithium ion battery manufacturers was the largest, with six. Among them, BYD and Yinlong New Energy are not only domestic energy storage plant manufacturers, but also lithium battery manufacturers, and are also pure electric vehicle manufacturers.

The widening of the industrial chain allowed battery manufacturers that had earlier distributed battery materials upstream to receive dividends from the growth of the pure electric car market. Some people in the industry told this reporter: "The highly market-oriented automotive industry provides the soil for the survival and development of energy storage companies. To realize the progress of energy storage technology and reduce the cost, we need huge investment in R&D. In the environment where the price policy is still unclear, energy storage enterprises can only rely on the automotive market to achieve the improvement of the core competitiveness of battery research. The market for electric vehicles has prompted energy storage companies to submit beautiful transcripts again. China produced 31,266 new energy vehicles and sold 31,722 vehicles in April, an increase of 178.3 % and 190.6 % respectively, according to data released by the China Automobile Industry Association. Among them, 23,918 vehicles and 23,908 vehicles were produced and sold, an increase of 227.9 % and 243.8 % respectively.

Just four years from 2020, the number of 5 million new energy vehicles in the country will make a big deal for the production of power batteries. In other words, it will also provide a breakthrough in battery technology. "From the point of view of energy storage technology distribution, lithium-ion battery technology is mature, has a high energy ratio, good stability, and a relatively moderate price. The installed capacity accounts for a high proportion and the growth rate is fast. It runs through every link of hair, transmission, distribution, and use. "Lihaijun, vice president of the Yinlong Automobile Research Institute, said at the meeting.

Market polarization trends are emerging

The lithium ion battery camp is large, including many technical categories such as lithium cobalt acid, lithium manganese acid, lithium iron phosphate, and lithium titanate. Whether applied to power cells or energy storage projects, the safety of batteries should be the first consideration. The second is the energy density, and lithium manganese, lithium titanate, and lithium iron phosphate technologies have entered the preferred camp.

Yuzhenhua stressed: "Under the premise of ensuring safety, cost-effective products will inevitably affect the choice of technical routes. It is worth noting that safety is still a qualitative index, and the quantitative index of product safety should be proposed for future energy storage applications. It is understood that Yinlong New Energy and the South Power Grid jointly established the National "863 Plan" energy storage power station demonstration project 2 megawatt lithium titanate battery storage station was approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology in April 2015.

Higher safety, 24,000-35 ,000 cycle life, 6-10 minutes fast charging performance, and a wide temperature environment of minus 50-60 degrees Celsius make lithium titanate batteries unique in the lithium battery camp. The director of the Electric Institute of China Electric Power Research Institute said: "The performance advantage of lithium titanate is particularly suitable for the performance of the power grid. Large-capacity energy storage systems should promote long-life, low-cost lithium titanate battery technology on a large scale. The White Paper pointed out that by the end of 2020, the development and preparation technology of various components of lithium-ion batteries will be improved to compete with the international level. The cycle life will be increased to 6,000-8 ,000 times, and the system cost will be reduced to 1000-1500 yuan/kilowatt-hour.

It is understood that the current average cost of lithium batteries is 2000-3000 yuan/kilowatt-hour, of which the system cost of mainstream manufacturers can achieve 1500-2000 yuan/kilowatt-hour, and the battery cost is below 1000 yuan/kilowatt-hour.

It is understood that the fourth-generation lithium titanate battery developed by Zhuhai Yinlong New Energy Group has a cost reduction of up to 40 %.

The fourth generation of high-density lithium titanate batteries decreased by 40 % compared to the third generation of products, and the energy density increased by 30 %.

So far, with the rapid development of the electric car market, battery manufacturers have expanded their production capacity, and battery costs may further decline. Yuzhenhua stressed: "The polarization trend in the energy storage market is evident. One type of manufacturer has insufficient production capacity, and two or three types of manufacturers have outstanding overcapacity problems. Enterprises need to adjust their production capacity layout according to their own conditions. "

The page contains the contents of the machine translation.