CNESA Welcomes New Member, NR Electric!

NR Electric is a leading solution provider for electric power generation, transmission, distribution and industrial customers worldwide. NR Electric is leading the world with its Smart Substation Solution, one of the world's largest protection and control products, and occupies an important position in power electronics applications and flexible HVDC. Built upon cutting-edge technologies, NR Electric serves power utilities and industrial enterprises with world-class products, all-around solutions, and superior services. NR Electric's innovative and proven solutions improve the safety, reliability, efficiency and environmental friendly of power systems.

In 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, 30 of 31 stadiums and arenas relied on NR Electric's solutions to ensure reliable electricity supply. In the 2010 Shanghai Expo, NR Electric’s solution was used to guarantee the power supply for the event. In addition, NR Electric's digital substation solution was on display to illustrate the key achievements of China's power industry technology.

NR Electric contributes to power system development worldwide, delivering solutions to over 60 countries and counting. In addition to equipment supply, NR Electric’s award-winning training program improves customers’ professional skills -- a fundamental component of successful power grid operation.

To learn more about NR Electric, visit http://www.nrec.com/en/ 

TUV Rheinland Joins CNESA

We're happy to welcome TUV Rheinland Greater China to CNESA!

About TUV Rheinland

TÜV Rheinland Greater China is a leading provider of independent testing, certification and evaluation services worldwide.  TÜV Rheinland was founded over 140 years ago and has 19,000 employees in 69 countries.  With manufacturers’ products distributed all over the world, its name has long been synonymous with safety and quality.

TÜV Rheinland Greater China established its first branch office in Taiwan in 1986 and now has more than 30 service locations in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan with nearly 3,600 employees providing professional testing and certification services for manufacturers on product safety and quality management. In addition to certification services, TÜV Rheinland Greater China provides a number of professional seminars in different fields each year to help businesses train their personnel and improve their competitiveness.

Guided by a corporate mission of achieving a balance between man, technology and the environment as well as the international trend towards environmental protection, TÜV Rheinland Greater China has been a strong proponent of green solutions in recent years. By continuing to invest and assist with the development of environment-related products, services and management systems, TUV Rheinland Greater China strives to support businesses realize their commitment to environmentally-friendly and sustainable development.

To learn more about TUV Rheinland Greater China, visit: http://www.tuv.com/en/greater_china

Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Engineering Thermophysics Receives International Patents for Supercritical CAES

Supercritical CAES (compressed air energy storage) technology independently developed and wholly owned by CNESA vice-chair member Chinese Academy of Sciences - Institute of Engineering Thermophysics (CAS IET) recently received invention patents from the EU (37 countries) and the US. This follows Chinese and Japanese patents, and is a foundation for reaching global coverage in developed countries and international partnerships in energy storage, and will greatly advance the industrialization of this technology.

Since its establishment, the Energy Storage Research and Development Center’s scientific research IP protection efforts produced many patents. In the last four years, the center applied for 101 patents and has received 64 - including 19 design patents and 45 utility patents. The Center has built a core IP portfolio centered on compressed air energy storage technology, include advanced CAES, high pressure compressors, advanced cryo and heat storage technology, and high-load expanders. According to the National Science Library's 2014 statistics, the Center ranks 4th in the world in CAES patents (1st among research institutes), and 1st among Chinese research institutions by a wide margin. This represents a major milestone for the Energy Storage R&D Center.

For more on the CAS IES Energy Storage Research and Development Center, please see their website: http://english.iet.cas.cn/ 

Dispatches from San Diego, pt. 4

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This is part four in a series on our trip to San Diego for the Energy Storage North America conference and expo. Here are parts one, two and three.

It’s a long flight from Beijing to California, so it’s not every day that our Chinese members have the opportunity to visit demonstration projects in the United States. We wanted to make the most of our San Diego trip, and so scheduled a trip to Borrego Springs, a community two hours away hosting a 26 megawatt solar facility and a 4.5 MWh lithium-ion battery energy storage system owned and operated by San Diego Gas & Electric. The batteries were provided and installed by Saft, with PCS from Parker and ABB.

The microgrid was funded in part by the Department of Energy and the California Energy Commission to build energy resilience in a remote community within California’s largest state park. The community’s population fluctuates between 2,500 and 10,000 residents, causing seasonal swings in load. Most importantly, the community is served by only a single transmission line strung in rugged terrain, leaving the community vulnerable to prolonged outages due to fire, lightning strikes, or floods.  

The microgrid has already proven itself as a powerful back-up system. During a planned transmission maintenance outage in May, the utility was able to switch customers to microgrid-supplied power after only a 10-minute outage. According to Jeff Mucha, project manager at SDG&E, that outage length was necessary to maintain personnel safety while flipping switches manually. The company is currently installing automation systems to make it possible to control microgrid services from SDG&E headquarters in San Diego.

This facility demonstrates the myriad values that microgrids can provide. In many ways, it was the ideal bookend to a trip that began with a visit to UC San Diego’s microgrid. One site was a telescope looking at the future technologies and business models that can help achieve grid stability and reduced carbon emissions in an urban, EV-heavy setting. The other, by contrast, showed how microgrids and energy storage can build resilience in isolated communities with plentiful solar resources.

Big thanks to Jeff Mucha and Donna Miyasako-Blanco at SDG&E, and Linda Haddock at the Borrego Springs Chamber of Commerce.

This is the final part of our blog, Dispatches from San Diego. See parts one, two, and three.

Dispatches from San Diego, pt. 3

This is part three in a series on our trip to San Diego for the Energy Storage North America conference and expo. If you haven't yet, check out parts one and two.

Today was the last day of the Energy Storage North America conference. Today's themes were grid services, finance, and technologies. We heard from grid regulators, policymakers, and technical experts, including Dr. Imre Gyuk, Energy Storage Program Manager at the Department of Energy.

Distributed Storage at the Market Edge

A morning panel featuring California policymakers focused on how distributed storage can interface in electricity markets.

The panel noted that utilities were tasked with examining the value of energy storage on their grids. At the time, utilities came back saying that the technologies were mature, economical, or proven enough for widespread use. Five years later, we’re seeing thousands of megawatts of interconnection requests for distributed storage, reflecting the effectiveness of California’s subsidies and the growing value propositions of these technologies.

During the Q&A session, a representative from Trina Solar, asked how policies can help China manage the problem of having long distances and constrained transmission between renewable generation and load centers. The simple answer given was to build more power lines. But the panelists also stressed the importance of building a diversified renewable asset base.

In a later panel, two grid experts continued the conversation about the role distributed energy storage can play on the grid edge.

James Gallagher, executive director of the New York State Smart Grid Consortium, described how New York’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) program is trying to better align utility practices with the goal of integrating more grid edge resources. Because New York has the oldest electrical grid in the country, REV also aims to help deal with the challenges of using older grid assets.

To do this, he said, REV is helping utilities procure distributed assets to meet their operational needs. The plan intends to introduce further market mechanisms to incentivize deployment. For example, the cost of electricity distribution is averaged across a utility’s consumer base, but in reality, the actual cost of delivery may vary by a factor of a hundred. Clarifying the actual costs of running a distribution grid gives third parties an opportunity to make a profit by introducing distributed resources like storage to locations where it is needed most.

He also touched on the issue of financing. Because increasing ratepayer fees to finance upgrades can be hard for utilities, there is an opportunity for microgrid players, who can raise money from third party sources to build and operate assets which traditionally were owned and operated by utilities. He also noted that insurance companies are becoming aware that record storms and heat waves driven by climate change are going to put community resilience to the test. Insurance companies have access to big pools of money that can finance power system upgrades, including energy storage, that build resilience in the face of global warming.

Technologies and Standards

Dr. Imre Gyuk, Energy Storage Program Manager at the US Department of Energy, gave a presentation on new technological breakthroughs in energy storage and efforts to establish better codes, standards, and regulations affecting energy storage system safety.

He highlighted work being done in energy storage at several national laboratories. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has made breakthroughs in mixed acid vanadium redox flow batteries by developing electrolyte with 80% improved temperature stability and 70% better energy density. This technology has been licensed out to several big flow battery producers, including UniEnergy, Imergy, and WattJoule.

He foresees the system cost for vanadium redox flow batteries (RFB) to fall from $325/kWh in 2015 to $275 by 2017. He also shared projections that aqueous soluble organic flow batteries will become commercially viable in the medium term, with projected system costs falling to $150/kWh by 2021.

The Department of Energy is also working to resolve energy storage safety issues. The Department has published an inventory of codes and standards to help industry players better design, install, and operate their technology. The document also provides a list of best practices to respond to incidents involving energy storage technology.

The conference finished off with free beer at a reception at the San Diego Convention Center. It struck us how large this event is – a signal that the industry is really picking up speed, especially in the United States. This year, there were over 1800 attendees, 110 exhibitors, and over 150 speakers. We’re happy to have come – we’ll certainly be back next year.

Our fourth and final part in this series takes us to Borrego Springs, where SDG&E is pioneering microgrids and solar power to bring energy resilience to an isolated community in the desert.

Dispatches from San Diego, pt. 2

This is part two in a series on our trip to San Diego for the Energy Storage North America Conference and Expo. If you haven't yet, check out part one.

The first day of the expo and conference featured our debut on the conference floor, and discussions about California's massive storage procurement and the future of solar storage.

Sharing What We Know…

Vivian Wei, director of member services, and I made the final touches CNESA’s booth on day one of the expo. We’re here to share information about our efforts to promote energy storage policies and technologies in China. CNESA member companies we saw in the crowd included Primus Power, Schneider Electric, NGK, Sifang, Today Energy, ENN Group, Parker, Trina Solar, Sumitomo Electric, Imergy, Saft, ABB, GE and more.

The expo was a great opportunity for manufacturers, integrators and other energy storage players to share their technologies and business models with potential customers. For industry associations like CNESA, this is a chance to show the world what we do, and bring new members into the fold.

…And Learning from the Experts

Conference sessions also began today, focusing on three themes: distributed energy, hot markets, and utility-scale storage.

In a utility session, representatives from California’s three largest utilities discussed what lessons can be learned from their procurement of 350+ MW of energy storage capacity. Although the representatives were in consensus that their energy storage portfolios should be diverse, commercially sustainable, and flexible, questions posed in the Q&A segment about how utilities value different energy storage technologies, both now and in the future, were left largely unanswered.

Utility representatives said that their procurement requirement standards are expected to rise in 2016, which suggests that Chinese and other international companies should find suitable and experienced local partners if they intend to bid their products into California’s electricity markets.

In a distributed energy session, three industry experts from different backgrounds looked ahead at opportunities for solar-plus-storage. The panel featured Boris von Bormann, CEO of German battery business Sonnenbatterie; Ruud Kempener, analyst at the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA); and Barbara Lockwood, general manager at a US utility, Arizona Public Service.

Ruud Kempener challenged industry watchers to expand their perspectives beyond large-scale projects in developed countries, and consider the market possibilities for small-scale solar-plus-storage projects in countries with unstable grids and low rates of electrification. He remarked that although the cost of solar-plus-storage systems are often still too high to be considered cost competitive, they hold great value by providing grid reliability and resilience. Nonetheless, in the United States and Europe, cost competitiveness is still the most critical factor for the success of solar-storage projects.

Barbara Lockwood described how her utility is restructuring rates to encourage smart energy decisions. She argued that net metering – which reduces electricity bills for solar customers by subtracting total electricity produced from the electricity consumed from the grid – doesn’t accurately reflect the cost of electricity at various times, and discourages the adoption of technologies which can help utilities keep the grid stable. Solar panels cease to produce electricity at sundown, but load remains high well into the evening. In areas with high solar penetration, this means that utilities have to quickly ramp up generation in ways which can be costly and inefficient. Lockwood claimed that new rate structures, such as demand rates – which charge a consumer a separate fee based on the level of their peak consumption during a month or year – can encourage the use of energy storage technologies to even out load spikes which can cause instability and inefficiency in the grid.

Our trip blog continues in part three, where we hear from experts on distributed storage and breakthrough technologies.

Flywheel Energy Storage

Flywheel energy storage systems store energy in the kinetic energy of fast-spinning flywheels. They have high power density, no pollutants, long lifespans, wide operational temperature ranges, and no limit on charge/discharge cycles. They are already widely used in power quality control and UPS (uninterruptible power supply) applications, grid frequency regulation, satellite power and altitude control, and rail regenerative braking.

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Figure 1: Flywheel application by number of projects (left) and installed capacity (right) since 2010

According to CNESA's project database, since 2010, there are 14 flywheel projects in planning, construction, or operation - totaling 81 MW worldwide. These are most used in frequency regulation markets, distributed generation and microgrids, and rail energy recovery. Grid frequency regulation has been the hot spot for recent flywheel application. Following the installation of the 20 MW Beacon Power flywheel system at Hazleton, PA, a pair of flywheel projects (5 MW and 2 MW) were planned for Ontario, Canada to provide frequency regulation to the Ontario electricity market (IESO). It is worth noting that in the first half of 2015, Irish company EirGrid planned a 20 MW project that would be Europe's first such flywheel installation. Following the example of the North American markets and European electric markets addressing frequency regulation resource requirements, European grid operators are recognizing flywheels as fast response resource.

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Figure 2: Global flywheel installation by company – contracted, under construction, and operational projects – since 2010

According to CNESA's project database, the major flywheel energy storage are Beacon Power, VYCON, Temporal Power, Active Power, Amber Kinetics, Boeing, and Quantum Energy. Beacon Power was founded in the 1990s, gradually transitioning from UPS to grid frequency regulation. Active Power and VYCON both primarily serve the UPS field, mainly as backup/reserve power in data centers, hospitals, and industry (esp. crane and rail car systems). Temporal Power is a Canadian company established in 2010, with most of its projects providing frequency regulation to Canadian electric markets.

Quantum Energy Storage is a newly emerging company founded in 2013, and is participating in the FractalGrid microgrid demonstration project at Camp Pendleton, near San Diego, CA.  Quantum Energy’s flywheel does not use the traditional cylindrical design, but rather is disk-shaped, less than 2 inches thick, and spins at only 6,000 RPM, compared to the 10,000 RPM speeds of Temporal and Beacon flywheels. The thinking is that lower speeds will reduce resonance damage and the possible damage caused by a wheel breakdown.

Source: Amber Kinetics, DOE Sept. 2012.

Compared to other technologies, costs remain high for flywheel energy storage, but as reflected by some firms, areas with high electricity prices like the Caribbean (about $0.40/kWh) can get payback periods of 3-5 years for flywheel systems replacing diesel generators. In several remote areas, ROI can be shortened to one year.

Compared to other countries, China's flywheel energy storage technology is lagging behind. There are, at present, no commercial or demonstration projects using flywheel energy storage. The most advanced research in this field in China is taking place at Tsinghua University, but we expect that commercial-sized installations will have to wait until Chinese regulators adopt policies that provide compensation for fast frequency response. 

China's Solar Thermal Market

In September, China's National Energy Administration released an RFP for solar thermal generation (Chinese, English). This is big news for CSP players, who are scrambling to submit applications before the deadline of October 31st.

Chinese solar industry watcher CSP Plaza estimates that about 50 project applications have been submitted, totaling around 4 GW. Among those in the running are state-owned generators (China General Nuclear, China Power Investment Corporation, China Huadian Corporation, China Huaneng Group and Shenhua Guohua), Chinese privately-owned enterprises (SUPCON, Rayspower, RoyalTech CSP and TeraSolar), and a couple of foreign entities (Abengoa and BrightSource).

Industry watchers have commented that SUPCON and TeraSolar are the only Chinese companies with the requisite technology and experience to operate these projects. China Power Investment Corporation has partnered with BrightSource before on a project in Qinghai. But the remaining contenders are almost certainly going to need to find experienced partners for a successful project.

There are a lot of unknowns about how this RFP is going to shake out, including how feed-in tariffs are to be valued and how large the procurement will end up being.

We do know that government planners originally set a 1 GW capacity target for solar thermal generation in the country's 12th five-year plan, which comes due this year. According to statistics from CSP Plaza, total operating solar thermal capacity in China at the end of 2014 was only about 17 MW, so there's a good chance this RFP is driven to speed up development to meet a separate 3 GW target set for 2020.

Current Projects in China

In 2014, construction began on a 50 MW storage plant in Delingha, Qinghai province, and a 10 MW CSP project in Dunhuang, Gansu. This year, several projects were accepted for construction and operation, the most notable being the following three:

Akesai Molten Salt CSP Project

This project, a 2 billion yuan (US$312m) parabolic trough CSP installation in Gansu, is being built by the Gansu Concentrating Solar Power Co., Ltd. (肃光热发电有限公司), with assistance from the Shenzhen Jinfan Technology Co. The project is planned to encompass 500 MW over the course of three construction phases. It will provide 5200 annual equivalent full load hours, and supply 256 GWh to the grid each year. In July 2015, construction started on an experimental platform project, which is expected to come online in March 2016. Planners expect to have 50 MW operational by August 2017. Upon construction, it will be the world’s largest commercially-operating parabolic trough molten salt CSP power station.

Honghai New Energy 300 MW Solar Plant and Equipment Factory

Dalian Honghai New Energy Technology Development Co. Ltd. (大连宏海新能源科技发展有限公司) is independently financing a 10 billion yuan (US$1.58b), 300 MW power plant located in Jiushan, Gansu province. The project will include both parabolic molten salt generation and dish Stirling systems. The project is also to be co-located with a solar generator equipment factory. Phase one will include the construction of 100 MW of smart grid-connected generation, and is expected to cost 3.8 billion yuan (US$600m). Construction will take two years, after which the project is expected to produce 585 million kilowatt-hours per year.

Dacheng Technologies 100 MW CSP Project

This project is located at a solar power industrial park in Dunhuang, Gansu. The project is owned by Dunhuang Dacheng Concentrating Solar Power Co., Ltd. (敦煌大成聚光热电有限公司) and is being built by Lanzhou Dacheng Concentrating Solar Technology Co., Ltd. (兰州大成聚光能源科技有限公司). This 110 MW project will include 16 hours of thermal storage, produce 6000 utilization hours annually, and is expected to generate 600 million kilowatt hours each year. Total investment is 3.58 billion yuan (US$560m). Construction will be completed in 2017.

In phase one, the project will have a scale of 10 MW, 16 hours of energy storage, and a total investment of 380 million yuan (US$60m). Construction on phase one began in May 2015, and is expected to be grid-connected by the first half of 2016. This will be China’s first 10 MW linear Fresnel reflector CSP project.

Research on Molten Salt-based Tower CSP

This research project, which began in May 2015, is being led by Nanjing Nanrui Solar Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (南京南瑞太阳能科技有限公司). Partner organizations include State Grid Qinghai Power Co., the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Electrical Engineering, the State Grid Smart Grid Institute, and the China Three Gorges New Energy Company. The project primarily examines tower CSP installations which include molten salt thermal storage. Researchers aim to better understand solar/thermal/electrical energy conversion mechanisms as well as methods of coordination, operation, and control. Research results will help achieve more stable and smooth solar generation, improve energy utilization, increase renewable energy consumption and dispatch, and provide theoretical foundations and technical support.

In terms of geographical distribution, these projects are located in China’s solar-rich western region, particularly in Jiuquan, Gansu, where local government policies have supported renewable energy development and the solar thermal industry.

From a technological perspective, the aforementioned projects all include molten salt thermal storage systems in order to provide around-the-clock power. These projects also aren’t restricted to tower or parabolic CSP, but rather include other concentrating solar power technologies such as dish Sterling and linear Fresnel reflectors.

Most of the investment for these projects is coming from the private sector.

According to the China National Solar Thermal Energy Alliance, the potential power from solar thermal in China is around 16,000 GW. This suggests that the potential market for solar thermal generation could be in the trillions of yuan, which places these early movers in an advantageous position in this developing market.

At present, solar thermal generation in China is in a development/demonstration stage. The largest solar thermal plant in China is a 10 MW tower CSP facility owned by Supcon. Although China is technologically on par with the rest of the world, a number of factors are constraining the potential for commercialization of this technology. The government has not released a set solar thermal feed-in tariff. There is a lack of experience in project construction, operation, maintenance, and system integration. Product quality has also not be commercially proven in-country.

Future Policy Directions

In consideration of China’s national circumstances and experience with the solar industry, there are solutions to these problems on both the pilot and commercial levels. In the pilot phase, efforts should be made to improve capacity in R&D, system integration, and maintenance. This is also the time to gradually establish quality standards and control systems. In the process of scaling up, work is needed to bring technologies, system integration, and installation design and operation to maturity. Additionally, feed-in tariffs are needed to bring about commercialization of solar thermal generation in China.

Last year, the Price Bureau of the National Development and Reform Commission approved the country’s first feed-in tariff for a solar thermal pilot project, set at 1.2 yuan per kWh. Although this tariff only applies to the Supcon tower CSP pilot project in Delingha, Qinghai, the measure has boosted the solar thermal industry and attracted private investment. A number of listed companies and private enterprises with strong finances have begun to position themselves in the market. By acquiring pilot project technologies and building up experience, they hope to gain an advantage in the solar thermal generation market.

As policies begin to emerge, we expect the solar thermal generation market to make big gains in the next one to two years. 

Energy Storage in Vermont, ISO-NE, and the Rutland Energy City of the Future

Many states and cities have been pushing forward with new energy policies to accommodate higher amounts of distributed generation and are making use of energy storage. We look at Vermont, which was one of four states cited by the DOEs Energy Storage Program Manager, Dr. Imre Gyuk, in his presentation on US energy storage this May.

Rutland, Vermont. Photo: Shawn Pemrick

Green Mountain Power (GMP), the utility that covers most of Vermont, has been operating most of its pilot programs in the town of Rutland, home of the Rutland Energy City of the Future. The project is experimenting with energy storage and other distributed resources, being among the first markets to introduce a streamlined connection policy. It piloted Ice Energy air conditioning units to test their ability to achieve peak shaving. In 2014, GMP quadrupled the amount of net metered resources it would allow on its grid.

The utility and city made headlines again recently when announcing their intention to purchase and incorporate a large number of Tesla Powerwalls to reduce peak demand and provide savings to customers. This will also offer much greater energy independence to some customers, making it an interesting move by the utility. The delivery of the Powerwall units to customers’ homes will begin in October. GMP will partner with users in offering product incentives and on-bill financing. This will ensure that the value brought to the grid by the customers’ use of the Powerwalls is accurately reflected in their monthly bills.

The other major project in the city is the Stafford Hill Solar Farm, composed of a 2.5MW solar PV installation and a 4 MW/4.4 MWh battery energy storage system (2 MW/2 MWh Li-ion battery + 2 MW/2.4 MWh lead-acid battery). This project is managed by the Clean Energy States Alliance and Sandia National Laboratories, and involves the State of Vermont, US DOE Office of Electricity, and Energy Storage Technology Advancement Partnership (ESTAR).  The energy storage component of the project cost $4M. The project is meant to provide backup power to one of the first microgrids to be powered solely by solar and battery power without other fuel sources.

The Rutland Energy City of the Future initiative is in part of an economic move to help boost employment and make use of existing resources after an electric office left town, consolidating with another office in another location.   

Frequency regulation in New England’s market, ISO-NE, has been the slowest and most conservative in terms of transitioning to pay-for-performance frequency regulation structures.  When FERC ordered the ISOs to submit proposals for such market structures, ISO-NE’s was rejected twice, and their implementation date was pushed back to March 2015 while the other ISO began implementation in 2012-2014. Currently there are three projects totaling 975 kW of fast frequency regulation in ISO-NE: two heat thermal pilot projects by VCharge, and Beacon Power’s first flywheel demonstration plant. 

As new policies and business models emerge from the ISO-NE market, from Green Mountain Power, and the Rutland Energy City of the Future, CNESA will continue monitoring and reporting.

California’s Integrated Demand Side Management Proposal

California’s utility regulators are proposing to take the grid a step further towards the edge.

Earlier this September, CPUC Commissioner Mike Florio released a proposal that would represent the next step towards larger deployments of grid-connected distributed energy resources (DER).

This summer saw California’s major utilities each present a Distributed Resource Plan. These explored how distributed energy resources could provide value to grid operators. Commissioner Florio’s new proposal aims to clarify how that value can be passed on to consumers through novel pricing signals and other mechanisms. This proposal, the “Decision Adopting an Expanded Scope, a Definition, and a Goal for the Integration of Demand Side Resources,” set a new goal to integrate demand side resources “that provide optimal customer and system benefits, while enabling California to reach its climate objectives.”

According to Greentech Media, the proposed decision was the result of workshops that included CNESA partner, the California Energy Storage Alliance, among other advocacy, business, and regulatory organizations.

While the actual mechanisms for compensating and sourcing demand side resources that perform grid services are yet to be discussed in future workshops, this proposal marks a further step for California on the path towards integrating demand side resources into the grid. Stem’s policy director, Ted Ko, remarked in a CPUC meeting that the proposal could allow utilities to look to their customers to provide grid services like capacity, ramping, and voltage support.

Nonetheless, some participants expressed concerns about the scope of the proposal. In particular, utilities and CAISO, the California grid operator, asked for clarification about the risks involved with decentralizing grid resources. If the resources don’t show up when they’re needed, who should be responsible? How should mechanisms be designed to ensure that the electric system is reliable?

To answer remaining questions about how specific mechanisms should be designed, the CPUC will hold further workshops. In a later phase, the Commission will look at potential pilot programs to provide data on sourcing and pricing mechanisms. 

Sacred Sun to Provide Energy Storage for Hebei Renewables Pilot

By Sacred Sun

July 29th, 2015 – In a press conference in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced that the Zhangjiakou City Renewable Energy Demonstration Zone Development Plan has been approved by the State Council, formally establishing the Zhangjiakou Renewable Energy Demonstration Zone.

The Plan confirms that renewable energy development is a top priority development goal across the world. By 2020, renewables should account for 30% of final energy consumption. By 2030, that number will rise to 50%.

The Plan summarized its goals with the label “3-4-5.” The Plan should promote “3 Innovations”: systems and mechanisms, commercial models, and technology. It should implement “4 Projects,” including scalable development, high-capacity storage applications, smart transmission systems, and diversified application demonstrations. And the Plan should create “5 Functional Zones”: an Olympic special zone, a renewable energy innovation city, a renewable energy-integrated commercial zone, a high-end equipment manufacturing agglomeration, and a rural renewable energy recycling demonstration site.

The high-capacity storage application project aims to set high-capacity battery storage as a foremost technology in scaled energy storage pilots. The Plan supports a variety of renewables-plus-storage demonstrations, and supports financing for the construction and operation of energy storage installations for generators, consumers, and energy storage companies. This will help support the large-scale development of renewables at the demonstration site.

Shandong Sacred Sun Power Sources Co., Ltd. is a leading provider of high-capacity battery energy storage systems. In 2014, Sacred Sun introduced Japanese lead-carbon battery manufacturer Furukawa Battery Co.’s globally-recognized technology, product design, and manufacturing experience to China. Sacred Sun produces high-capacity, deep cycling, and long-lived FCP lead-carbon batteries. Sacred Sun’s batteries feature a lifespan of over 4200 cycles at 70% depth-of-discharge. When fully considering procurement costs and residual value from recycling, the cost of Sacred Sun FCP lead-acid batteries drops to $0.08 per kilowatt-hour of delivered power.

In 2014, Sacred Sun was named “China’s Most Influential Energy Storage Enterprise,” thanks to its innovative, high-capacity FCP lead-acid batteries. Sacred Sun is striving to help the Zhangjiakou Renewable Energy Demonstration Project meet its goals.​

Energy Storage North America begins October 13th

Energy Storage North America (ESNA), the most influential gathering of policy, technology and market leaders in energy storage, will be held October 13th-15th in San Diego, California. 

ESNA will feature site visits, workshops, presentations from industry leaders and regulators, and exhibitions showcasing the latest in advanced energy storage technology. 

Last year, ESNA more than doubled in size from its inaugural event in 2013, with over 1,500 attendees from 26 countries coming together to learn, strategize, and shape the market for storage in North America. Registration and exhibit space reservations for ESNA 2015 are now open. For more information, visit www.esnaexpo.com.

Don't forget: CNESA members receive discount tickets, so if you're planning on going, contact us! 

Demand Response in Shanghai

On 28 July 2015, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) held a conference announcing their latest research results in partnership with the University of Oxford, “The Potential and Benefits of Demand Response in Shanghai,” and shared their experiences establishing demand response markets in China and abroad.

In the summer of 2014, Shanghai hosted China’s first demand response pilot program. Early results pointed to the great hidden potential of demand response in the electricity system. In April 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) published policies promoting reform in China’s power sector, mandating the establishment of demand-side management pilot programs in Beijing, Tangshan, Suzhou, and Foshan. Using lessons learned from the Shanghai pilot and international experience, these cities will implement demand response programs and establish long-term market mechanisms.

In this context, NRDC and Oxford worked together to produce a special report to summarize years of experience in demand response project operations, examine the policies and regulatory frameworks necessary to promote demand response, and evaluate the market potential and value of demand response in Shanghai.

Because the power sectors in China, the United Kingdom, and the United States are different, this report offers recommendations and potential directions in future research. In their conference, the research team from NRDC and Oxford described NRDC’s work in demand-side management and energy efficiency and summarized the content of the report. They also discussed the future of demand response in China.

Shanghai’s demand response market potential

Their research predicted the market potential for demand side response up to 2030 via two programs. One program focuses on a direct air conditioning control program aimed at homeowners and commercial and industrial SMEs. The second program focuses on load reduction for commercial and industrial users. Figure 1 shows the market potential of demand response in 2020, 2025, and 2030.

The data show that 64-73% of demand response market potential lies in load reduction programs for Shanghai commercial and industrial users. Under different circumstances, it is predicted to contribute 43%-59% of total demand response market potential. Although the contribution from air conditioning direct load reduction for SMEs was limited, under certain conditions, AC direct load control programs for homeowners accounted for 23-33% of market potential for demand response.

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Figure 1 – Estimated value of Shanghai demand response market potential

Value of avoided costs in Shanghai’s demand response programs

Avoided costs from demand response in Shanghai include avoided expenditures from gas power plants, such as capacity, energy, CO2 emissions, and T&D investment. This report supposed that market potential in demand response could rely on peak shaving, rather than peak shifting or backup generation, to achieve results. Figure 2 shows expected avoided costs in 2020, 2025, and 2030.

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Figure 2 – Annual avoided costs between 2020 and 2030

Future research

The report also looked ahead at valuable research trends in the future:

• Strengthening load curve research
• Establishing a stronger evidence basis for participation rates and load reduction from demand response
• Analyzing and evaluating the 2015 Shanghai demand response pilot program
• Analyze the potential of different demand response strategies
• Further defining demand response products
• Strengthening long term peak use demand forecasting
• Formulating a user communication and marketing strategy
• Acquiring better system cost information to better evaluate system benefits
• Assessing demand response project costs
• Considering adding other environmental externalities

Energy Storage in the Philippines

As a country of more than 7,000 islands with a lagging power system and some of the highest electricity prices in Asia, one might expect the Philippines to be a hotspot for energy storage.

Credit: Renz Ticsay

Although widespread deployment of energy storage in the Philippines is yet to come, there are some significant drivers, both on and off-grid, that are already attracting energy storage players to this emerging market.

Market drivers

As a tropical archipelago with few fossil fuel resources, the Philippines faces unique energy challenges. According to the Philippines Department of Energy (DOE) 49% of installed capacity relied on imported oil and coal in 2011, leaving Filipinos highly exposed to international price volatility. This is especially true in rural islands, where microgrids are powered primarily through diesel generators.

The Philippines is also expected to undergo significant demand growth. By 2030, projected demand is expected to be 29.3 GW, a 60% increase from 2012, according to a KPMG report from 2013.

Filipinos are also concerned about the effects of climate change. Because the Philippines is densely populated near coastlines and is highly reliant on agriculture, it faces some of the most serious consequences of climate change. This reality has driven the Philippines to search for clean energy solutions that are resilient to extreme climate events.

In this context, the Philippines are actively promoting an energy reform agenda that aims to ensure energy security, improve energy prices, and develop sustainability.  Since 2008, favorable policies for renewable energy have driven growth in solar and wind deployments. As intermittent renewables begin to take up a greater share of power generation, the grid is likely to require energy storage technology to ensure grid reliability.

Applications for energy storage in the Philippines

Several potential applications for energy storage stand out in the Philippines, particularly in grid-side storage, island storage, and behind-the-meter applications. At this time, lithium-ion batteries are the primary advanced energy storage technology in use, though lead acid batteries -- mostly imported from China -- have been used in off-grid storage applications for at least a decade.

Grid-side storage

Frequency regulation is in its early stages in the Philippines. A local subsidiary of energy giant AES Corporation announced plans in July 2015 to deploy 200-250 MW of battery energy storage in the Philippines. This announcement came on the heels of a resolution made by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) allowing battery energy storage systems to provide ancillary services.

The Philippines is also shifting toward renewables in power generation. In April 2014, the ERC revised its solar target from 50 MW to 500 MW, and raised its solar feed-in tariff cap accordingly. As of June 2015, that cap was already maxed out, and industry advocates are pushing for a further revision. This suggests that the Philippines solar market is picking up speed. The rise of renewable energy as a significant part of the Philippines’ energy mix will necessitate further energy storage deployments to ensure the stability of the electric grid

Off-grid applications

Although the Philippines achieved 86% electrification in 2013, that rate falls to 65% in rural areas. According to the National Electrification Administration, there is a market potential of 2.5 million unconnected households in the Philippines.

Additionally, electrified rural island communities often rely heavily on diesel generation, which is both expensive and sensitive to disruption. A study conducted by the Reiner Lemoine Institute in 2014 estimated that a hybrid system comprised of 6.7 MW of solar PV plus a 1 MW lead acid battery system and an existing diesel generator could achieve savings of $0.073 per kWh, serving over 100,000 inhabitants.

Another study from German development organization GIZ estimated that, given the deployments of off-grid diesel generation in the Philippines, the expected potential revenue from battery sales in off-grid diesel hybrid applications will be around $27 million in 2030.

Due to the fact that the price of diesel has dropped significantly since these studies were conducted, the value proposition for diesel hybrid systems may not be as attractive as it was in 2013, but energy security remains a key driver for battery systems that can reduce diesel consumption.

Behind-the-meter applications

Consumers in the Philippines pay some of the highest electricity tariffs in Asia. At least one utility, the Manila Electric Company, offers voluntary time-of-use rates for their customers, which could provide a value opportunity for battery installers.

More importantly, as the GIZ report notes, consumers such as factories and hotels benefit highly from back-up energy storage devices due to the unreliability of the grid. These entities are also more likely to have access to the financing necessary to install these systems.

Challenges

As is true of other emerging energy storage industries, there are regulatory and market challenges to the deployment of energy storage technologies in the Philippines.

AES planned to begin operation of a 40 MW battery storage project in Kabankalan, Negros Occidental to provide ancillary services as early as March 2015. Regulatory hurdles have resulted in delays, and the project has yet to come online. This suggests that challenges from regulatory bodies and grid operators continue to hamper the deployment of energy storage technology. According to a GIZ report, this may be especially true for foreign enterprises, which are most likely find success by partnering with local players.

The GIZ report also notes that access to capital is a particular challenge. Projects under EUR 5-10 million may have difficulty acquiring funding from development banks. However the report also notes that there is a growing number of programs organized by the International Finance Corporation and the Philippines DOE which provide financing for sustainable energy projects.

In terms of off-grid battery storage applications, the sharp decline in the cost of diesel will likely impact the attractiveness of hybrid solar/diesel/storage projects.  According to statistics from the DOE, diesel prices in the Philippines have fallen by 40% since the summer of 2014. This will squeeze margins for potential solar storage projects, which rely on long-term fuel savings to counterbalance high upfront costs.

Due to the fact that the Philippines are prone to natural disasters such as flooding and typhoons, energy storage systems must be built to withstand extreme weather. This may increase the upfront cost of energy storage systems. However, successful demonstrations may also highlight the advantages of battery-supported systems in the aftermath of natural disasters, when logistics networks, grid services, and diesel deliveries are disrupted.

Overall, while the challenges facing energy storage technology in the Philippines are significant, the fundamental drivers of storage are strong. Partnerships with local developers and support from development agencies may help overcome regulatory and financing hurdles.

Additionally, as battery prices continue to fall, this market will become increasingly attractive.

China's Energy Internet

Photo: Jeremy Rifkin

Interest in the energy Internet is growing in China. Following the release of some big reforms, China is moving towards a next-generation grid -- which holds promise for those in energy storage. Here we're looking at the basics of the energy Internet, and discuss what role energy storage has to play.

What is the Energy Internet?

The Third Industrial Revolution, written by Jeremy Rifkin, presents a vision of the energy Internet. He envisions a shared, two-way energy and information network that integrates the electrical grid with natural gas, thermal power, and transportation networks via information communication technology. It relies primarily on renewable energy, and includes distributed elements, information components, and energy storage devices.

1. Energy networks are the physical foundation of the energy Internet. The electrical grid is the heart of the system. It closely integrates thermal, gas, oil, and transportation systems via electricity storage, thermal storage, and hydrogen storage technologies, as well as via vehicle charging points. High penetrations of distribution resources including distributed generation and storage helps to “flatten” the current top-down energy structure.
2. Information networks are the nervous system of the energy Internet. Most elements in the energy grid, including generation units, consumers, and T&D substations can be structured as nodes in an information network. This allows operators to collect and analyze grid information such as energy production, usage, demand, and operating status. This helps manage resources on the energy Internet.
3. Energy management, analysis, and trading platforms within the information network are used to dispatch local or regional energy resources and make the most out of the system. These platforms include big data analysis software, interactive exchange platforms, electric vehicle charging services, demand response platforms, etc.

China's Energy Internet

Research on the energy Internet in China is still in its early stages. According to information leaked from the NEA’s upcoming Energy Internet Action Plan, the energy Internet should rely on real-time, high-speed, two-way information exchange. It should use the electric grid as the core of the system, with a high degree of integration between multiple energy sources and transportation/logistics networks.

In 2014, President Xi Jinping called for an energy consumption revolution, including reduced energy consumption through industrial restructuring, implementation of energy savings guidelines, and the establishment of an energy saving mentality across society. With this in mind, we expect that China's first steps towards integrating energy resources and the Internet are most likely to involve distributed resources, microgrids, demand-side management, contracted resource management, and data-based energy services.

Energy Storage in the Energy Internet

In the energy Internet, energy storage not only includes electrical storage, but also hydrogen, heat, and natural gas storage.

The energy Internet will bring fundamental changes to every link in the energy chain, including production, transmission, and usage. As the "electricity consumption revolution" rolls onward, and continued reforms are made to China's power sector, we expect opportunities for energy storage in demand response, distributed generation, and microgrids.

Demand response in particular seems to be featured in the consumption revolution. It is also highlighted in the NEA's Energy Internet Action Plan. This is good news for energy storage, which can help reduce peak load without affecting consumer energy use.

Earlier this year, in fact, the Beijing municipal government authorized CNESA to operate the city's first integration pilot program. CNESA is helping businesses across the city save money using a custom-built online platform. We hope these experiences will inform future deployments across the country.

The new power sector reforms are also an important development. The reforms are opening up electricity retail, unlocking the potential for more distributed generation and microgrids in China. On 22 July 2015, the NEA followed up with  a document further specifying the role of microgrids in opening up electricity retail and distribution to society at large, titled Guidelines on Promoting the Construction of New Energy Microgrid Demonstration Projects. In line with the principles of an energy Internet, it encourages the use of internet-based and information technologies in generation and usage.

Although many of the precepts of a true energy Internet may be years away, China's policymakers are beginning to recognize the value that these ideas and technologies have. The confluence of power sector reforms and favorable regulations for distributed generation and microgrids suggest that non-hydro energy storage may soon be ready for its China debut.

Energy Storage in Distributed Generation and Microgrids in China

Nanji Island, Zhejiang, home of a two-megawatt lithium-ion battery supported microgrid.

According to the CNESA database, half of energy storage deployments in China are applied in distributed generation and microgrids, making these applications the most common application of energy storage technology in China.

Within this, industrial and commercial use is greatest, followed by applications in remote and island communities, accounting for 54% and 39% respectively.

There are three reasons that applications in microgrids and distributed generation have become so popular.

1. Solar PV deployments in China are moving away from purely large-scale ground-based solar farms to a mix of large-scale deployments and distributed generation.
2. For isolated and island communities, renewable generation is becoming economically competitive when compared to the costs of burning diesel or building out transmission lines.
3. In the context of a growing interest in an “internet of energy,” results from demonstration projects shifted attention towards microgrids and distributed generation.

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       Source: CNESA

However, there are problems preventing the wider deployment of energy storage in this sector. In CNESA’s annual conference held in June, Energy Storage China 2015, experts discussed what is holding the industry back:

• Pricing – The price of residential-use electricity is too low. Demand charges are also not widespread, and where they exist, the difference isn’t big enough to support energy storage installation.
• Incentives – There are currently no subsidy programs specifically for energy storage technology. With feed-in tariffs for solar PV set at 0.42CNY/kWh (US$0.07/kWh), interest in installing energy storage to complement solar PV has been minimal.
• Management – Energy management systems for industrial installations are complex, which is hampering the expansion of rooftop PV and accompanying storage systems.
• Overlap – In some isolated communities where microgrids were built, grid companies built out transmission lines anyway, making the original microgrid installations largely extraneous.
• Technology – Technical problems have plagued existing demonstration projects, including inconsistencies resulting in diminished recharge capacity among lithium batteries, imprecise BMS systems, and a lack of technical and testing standards for PCS equipment resulting in long maintenance downtime.

Despite all this, the consensus is that distributed generation and microgrids are still going to take leading roles in commercializing energy storage in the near future. 

Promoting Electric Vehicles in Beijing

Beijing is putting out policies to get more EVs on the road.

As one of the first cities in China to promote electric vehicle use, Beijing has been at the forefront of efforts to increase the number of EVs on the road. EV use in Beijing is now moving from a pilot phase towards broader commercial development. During our annual conference last month – Energy Storage China 2015 – Director Chen Chu of the Beijing Electric Vehicle Development Center described the state of affairs for electric vehicles in the capital. Here are some of his observations and our own analysis.

Beijing EV Policies

Broadly speaking, the Beijing municipal government is focusing its attention on all-electric vehicles and the creation of an effective industrial chain. Director Chen emphasized the importance placed on promoting R&D and manufacturing, demonstration projects, and building up EV infrastructure to create a supporting framework for the industry.

In terms of policy, the municipal government has passed nearly a dozen regulations, procedures, and notices related to EVs and infrastructure since 2014. Most notable were policies related to EV purchasing and measures to establish an EV policy framework. In 2015, we’ve seen new policies come out governing new applications for EV technology and extending EV infrastructure.

Date	Policy
February 2014	Beijing Municipal Procedures for Management of Electric Passenger Car Demonstration Projects
February 2014	Beijing Municipal Regulations on EV Manufacturers and Product Auditing for  Electric Passenger Car Demonstration Projects
March 2014	Beijing Municipal Regulations on Financial Subsidies for Electric Passenger Car Demonstration Projects
June 2014	Beijing Municipal Regulations on Construction of Private Charging Infrastructure for Electric Passenger Car Demonstration Projects
June 2014	Notice on Promoting the Installation of Private EV Charging Infrastructure in Existing Residential Complexes
July 2014	Notice on Promoting the Installation of Private EV Charging Infrastructure in Property Management Areas
July 2014	Beijing Municipal EV Promotion Action Plan (2014-2017)
March 2015	Notice on Financial Policies for the Purchasing of Electric Vehicles
March 2015	Notice on Incentives for Early Retirement or Upgrading of Taxis
April 2015	Notice on Questions Regarding Beijing EV Charging Station Service Fees
May 2015	Notice on Exemption of Electric Passenger Cars from Working Day Rush Hour Road Space Limitations

Three policy documents published in 2015 are particularly interesting:

• The “Opinions on the Beijing Municipal Public Facilities Deployment Index,” a document that, among other things, specifies the allocation of parking spaces in publically-owned buildings, also included a clause reserving 18% of parking spaces in residential complexes for electric vehicles.
• The “Notice on Exemption of Electric Passenger Cars from Working Day Rush Hour Road Space Limitations,” published in May, exempted small passenger EVs from rules that restrict the number of passenger cars on Beijing’s streets during the week.
• The “Notice on Questions Regarding Beijing EV Charging Station Service Fees,” passed in April, allows operators of public EV charging stations to charge users a service fee. This fee is based on the price of gasoline, and is designed to incentivize the build-out of future charging stations. Specifically, the document specifies that the service fee cannot exceed 15% of the price of one liter of 92-octane gasoline per kilowatt-hour charged.

Collectively, these policies clarify the rules on EV infrastructure, traffic management methods, and EV charging services.  They reaffirm the city’s commitment to supporting EV development and the promotion of EVs in the consumer market.

EV Support Platforms

The city has also designed a number of software platforms to promote the expansion of the city’s EV fleet.

One such platform monitors and collects information on the battery power, vehicle status, and the geographic location of public-use electric vehicles.

Another, the Beijing EV Charging Facility Smart Management Platform, provides internet access to electric vehicles, thus giving drivers access to the current status and location of charging facilities. The platform also helps drivers navigate to charging stations and reserve a charging space in advance.

The National EV Testing Service Platform, one other such service, tests the performance of an EV and its components, including a vehicle’s drive and control systems, battery, and charging capacity.

EV Development Strategy

The city is currently working to build a hierarchical public transportation system. This includes promoting EVs for use as taxis, in delivery services, and in hourly car rentals. In terms of infrastructure, the city government has described its strategy as emphasizing slow charging for private vehicles and fast charging for public transportation.

The city is also actively exploring home charging, distributed charging stations, and park and ride charging stations at rail stations.

The Beijing city government’s active stance on EV policy suggests that the industry is picking up speed. It also show that EVs are a part of the city’s strategy to fight air pollution.

CNESA will continue to follow these developments.

Applications of Graphene in Lithium-ion Batteries

Since the announcement of the 2010 Nobel Prize in physics, graphene has received considerable attention from researchers worldwide. In 2004, Dr. Andre Geim at the University of Manchester successfully used micromechanical techniques to isolate single sheets of graphene from highly ordered pyrolytic graphene. Graphene’s unique properties have made it a highly attractive topic of research.

What is graphene, anyway?

Graphene is a hexagonal, two-dimensional allotrope of carbon. It can be formed into zero-dimensional fullerines, one-dimensional carbon nanotubes, and stacked to form three-dimensional graphite. As such, graphene is a basic component for other graphite materials. Graphene possesses many special properties. It has a tensile strength of 130GPa, 100 times stronger than steel. Its thermal conductivity is 500W·m-1K-1, three times that of diamond. Its electron mobility is 15000cm2·V-1s-1, over ten times greater than commercial silicon. At 2630m2·g-1, it has an extremely high specific surface area. It is conductive at room temperature, and functions much more quickly than present-day conductors.

Graphine itself is only one carbon atom wide. It is theorized to have a large specific surface area, high conductivity, and a honeycomb-like structure,  which is what gives it potential for use in lithium-ion batteries. The proposed applications include direct use as an anode; use in tin-based, silicon-based, or transition metal anode composites; use as a composite in lithium iron phosphate cathodes; or use as a conductive additive.

(1)   Use of graphene as an anode in lithium-ion batteries

Because graphene is composed of a single atomic layer of carbon, lithium ions can be placed between two layers of graphene to create Li2C6, a superior electrode material (with an energy density of 744mAh·g-1) compared to traditional carbon anodes. The lithium ions are stored in the spaces between the graphene sheets. It is this morphology and structure that determine the effectiveness of graphene as an anode material.

Because pure graphene has a low coulombic efficiency, a high charge-discharge platform, and low cycle stability, graphene in itself is unlikely to replace existing carbon-based commercial materials currently used in lithium-ion battery anodes. Moreover, graphene sheets stacked together lose the advantage of a large surface area to store lithium ions. However, graphene makes an excellent composite material for electrodes.

(2)   Graphene-composite anodes

Graphene is highly conductive, demonstrates high mechanical strength, flexibility, and stability, and possesses a high specific surface area. In particular, chemically transformed graphene has a high number of functional groups, making it useful as a substrate for composite electrodes.

Graphene composites with tin, silicon, and transition metals have already been researched in depth. Tin and silicon-based electrodes, when doped with graphene, can maximize synergies between the two materials. Graphene can reduce the size of the active material, prevent the agglomeration of nanoparticles, improve electrical and ionic transmission, and improve mechanical stability. These improvements lead to better capacity and rate performance, as well as longer lifecycles.

The preparation of graphene-composite electrode materials requires the uniform distribution of nanoparticles on one or multiple layers of graphene. The effectiveness of the composite is determined by the interaction between the two materials.  Presently, graphene composite manufacturing is developing to a stage where the morphology of composites can be well-controlled through in-situ and interfacial reactions. Nonetheless, easier and more effective preparation methods are crucial for the future application of graphene in lithium-ion batteries.

(3)   Applications of graphene as cathode material

Conductivity of cathodes is a major limit to the effectiveness of a battery. Many cathode materials – particularly in cases of large electrical discharge – demonstrate lower capacity than should theoretically be the case. As a result, researchers hope that graphene’s unique surface area and conductive properties will improve the conductivity of cathode materials and increase lithium ion transmission.  Adding graphene into the cathode mix reduces interfacial resistance between the electrolyte and active cathode material, and improves Li+ transmission. At the same time, graphene placed on the surface of the cathode prevents metal oxides from dissolving or transforming, thereby maintaining structural stability.

Graphene is used most commonly with lithium iron phosphate cathodes. In these composites, graphene functions as a current collector coating and conductive additive. Graphene’s two-dimensional conductive surface provides a highly active and conductive electrode, thereby improving the battery’s conductivity and rate performance.

(4)   Graphene as a conductive additive

In order to improve conductivity, conductive additives such as graphite, acetylene black, and Super P are added to battery electrodes. As a carbon material, graphene is also very effective as a conductive additive for lithium-ion batteries.

On carbon-based anodes, graphene provides more consistent conductivity throughout many discharge cycles regardless of the presence of active substances which would otherwise interrupt conduction, as compared to acetylene black. This allows for better cycling and rate performance.

On lithium iron phosphate cathodes, Super P uses small particles to fill gaps in the cathode, thereby improving conductivity. By comparison, graphene’s flexible surfaces achieve greater conductivity with fewer materials.

The biggest barrier to adoption of graphene conductive additives is that its high-rate performance is yet lacking. Current research has been limited to improving cycling and capacity under low rate conditions.

Summary

Since graphene was first isolated, it has shown usefulness in many applications –electrochemical batteries, optoelectronics, catalysts, and more. There is further potential for applications in hydrogen storage, supercapacitors, lithium-sulfur batteries, lithium-air batteries, and other technologies. Looking forward, graphene will benefit from increasing scale, lower costs, better manufacturing methods, and improved functionality. CNESA is keeping a close eye on further developments and future applications for graphene.

Demand Response in China

In April 2015, following the Power Reform Policy No. 9,  NDRC released Notice on Improving Demand Side Management Pilots through Emergency Power Mechanisms, continuing to strengthen emphasis on demand side management and demand response. This article will analyze the status of demand response and its prospects in China.

Demand Response (DR) Overview

In 2012, FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) defined demand response as follows: Changes in electric usage by demand-side resources from their normal consumption patterns in response to changes in the price of electricity over time, or to incentive payments designed to induce lower electricity use at times of high wholesale market prices or when system reliability is jeopardized.

Demand response must be distinguished from demand side management (DSM). DSM refers to when the government, through policy measures, pricing mechanisms, and other measures to guide the users and change electricity usage behavior, thus lowering peak usage, improving the efficiency of the power supply, and optimizing other electricity usage aspects. DSM includes energy efficiency, permanent load reduction, and incentives for temporary load reduction. DR is a type of DSM, as shown in the figure below.

DSM Implementation Methods

The US has some of the best developed DR, and will thus be taken as an example in introducing DSM implementation methods. In the US market, DR is mainly divided into price-based DR and incentive-based DR.

Price-based DR resources are generally from residential users whose participation is completely voluntarily and thus cannot be dispatched. As it cannot be dispatched, it is difficult for the grid to accurately determine DR capacity. But as smart metering has popularized, this type of DR resource has shown new developments. With dispersed users aggregated as one, and with the allocation of ES devices, this creates an aggregate dispatchable resource which can via contracted electricity prices or other logical price signals giving direction and paying returns.

Incentive-based DR resources are generally commercial and industrial users, and can be publically transacted on electricity markets. Grid dispatchers can arrange electricity usage plans with participants in advance, and can be thusly dispatched. This type of DR resource will generally have an ES device such as a battery, thermal storage, or ice storage air conditioning.

In the above basic DR implementation measures, each power company in the US has its own particulars, equipment, and provide a great many DR projects for users to choose from to participate in. PG&E has programs for small business DR: smart air conditioning, and business and residential interconnection projects; and programs for large to medium businesses: business incentive programs, aggregate party programs, and subsidy programs.

DR in China’s electricity market

In November 2010, China's NDRC released the <Demand Side Management Methods>, formally beginning China's DSM efforts. Following, the government released related policies, such as 2011's Guidelines on Industrial Zone Demand Side Management, 2012's Interim Methods For Demand Side Management City Pilot Project Central Financial Incentive Fund Management, and 2015's Notice on Improving Demand Side Management Pilots through Emergency Power Mechanisms, promoting the development of DSM efforts.

The above documents differentiate between DSM-type permanent load reductions and temporary DR and differentiate set incentive mechanisms, but up to now, DSM has mainly been carried out via administrative means, load control devices, and energy efficiency, with non-ideal results. Meanwhile, pricing and other market mechanisms for directing users in voluntary participation DR have had quite limited development due to greatly limited peak pricing and subsidy incentive mechanisms.

 (Note: Price compensation mechanisms for DSM facilities: Energy efficient power plants and peak shifting/peak shaving technology and other permanent load reductions: 440 CNY/kWh in east China, 550 CNY/kWh in central and west China. Demand Response temporary peak load reductions: 100 CNY/kWh.)

Background of China’s DR electricity market

Although DR is very limited in China's electricity market, its importance is already taking shape in China's energy strategy and the new round of electricity reforms. Beijing, Shanghai, and other DSM pilot cities have been testing DR projects since 2014. The data shows that DR will gain great development space in China.

•        More reasonable, improved peak pricing mechanisms will incentivize DR development

The newest policy published this April, makes a call "to incentivize active user participation in peak [super peak] load usage reduction and voluntary participation in DR, improved peak pricing and seasonal pricing can be set... to be set and implemented before the end of June 2015." The coverage scope and regional use of peak pricing will expand, and price-type DR will gain more incentives.

•        Electric service company participation, strengthening an active market

Allowing more types of retail entities to enter the end user retail market is one of the new reforms. For DR, last April's Notice also states that it will "incentivize and support the development of electric service companies, attracting the participation of top national and even global electric service companies in pilot projects."  As the market opens, participating entities and competition will increase. This could result in the emergence of more innovative projects and products, driving DR development.

However, China's present DR market still has many barriers. Participation by grid companies is very low, grid operation data is still held closely by grid companies, and there is a lack of public channels. For non-grid companies, providing DR lacks the data for economic operation analysis. For users, as they lack real-time electricity usage data analysis, it is very difficult to build enthusiasm for DR participation.

CNESA acts as a primary integrated unit of the Beijing NDRC, actively participating in Beijing's DR pilot efforts, and is currently managing the establishment of a DR management platform, which will organize under certain conditions the participation of user groups in DR in the NDRC's pilot projects. CNESA hopes to advance the continued improvement of related policies through the efforts and coordination of many parties, creating even more space for energy storage to develop.