Energy storage technology: a powerful cornerstone of the new energy industry

Energy storage refers to the process of converting electrical energy into other forms of energy through physical or chemical means for storage, and releasing it when needed, similar to a large power bank. According to technical principles, energy storage is mainly divided into three categories: physical energy storage (such as pumped storage, flywheel energy storage, etc.), electrochemical energy storage (such as lithium-ion batteries, lead-acid batteries, flow batteries, etc.), and electromagnetic energy storage (such as supercapacitors, superconducting electromagnetic energy storage, etc.).

At present, there are two main types of large-scale development and application in China:

Pumped storage refers to the process of pumping water from the lower reservoir to the upper reservoir for storage during periods of low electricity load, thereby releasing water during peak electricity load and utilizing gravitational potential energy to generate electricity again. As of the end of 2021, the cumulative installed power of China's energy storage market was 43.44GW, ranking first in the world. Among them, the installed power of pumped storage is 37.57GW, accounting for 86.5%. China has added 7397.9MW of installed energy storage capacity. Among them, the installed power of pumped storage is 5262.0 MW, accounting for 71.1%.

Compared to pumped storage technology, electrochemical energy storage has the characteristics of strong environmental adaptability and the ability to be configured in a small and dispersed manner. In 2021, China added 7397.9MW of new energy storage capacity, of which the installed power of electrochemical energy storage was 1844.6MW, accounting for 24.9%. In electrochemical energy storage technology, the installed capacity of lithium-ion battery energy storage technology is 1830.9MW, with a power scale accounting for up to 99.3%; The installed capacity of lead-acid battery energy storage technology is 2.2MW; The installed capacity of liquid flow battery energy storage technology is 10.0MW; The installed capacity of other electrochemical energy storage technologies is 1.52MW.

Looking ahead to the future, with the goal of meeting the needs of new power systems and supporting carbon peak and carbon neutrality, China will vigorously develop the new energy storage industry, establish a sound electricity market mechanism, fully leverage the multiple values of new energy storage, and promote the construction of mature new energy storage business models