China’s First Sodium Nickel Battery Trial Project Begins Operations in Zhejiang

On April 1, 2019, a China Telecom energy storage system located at a monitoring station in Jianggan District, Hangzhou became the receiver of China’s first sodium nickel battery. The battery system is provided by Zhejiang AM Power, a joint venture between Chilwee Group and GE.

Sodium Nickel batteries are a high temperature sodium battery.  Advantages are its relative safety, environmental friendliness, long life cycle, and cheap manufacturing cost.  The batteries pose no risk of catching fire or exploding, can operate in temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius and as high as 65 degrees Celsius, and have life cycles typically two to five times that of Li-ion batteries.

CATL Forms Partnership with KSTAR

KSTAR and CATL have contributed 102 million RMB and 98 million RMB, respectively, to form a joint venture.  CATL will hold 51% stake in the venture, while KSTAR will hold the remaining 49%.  The venture will focus on energy storage system PCS, battery packs (including UPS-integrated Li-ion battery packs, residential energy storage battery packs, and packs for small-to-medium Li-ion batteries of nonstandard size), as well charging stations and “solar+storage+charging” integrated products.

KSTAR was founded in 1993.  The company researches, manufactures, and provides integrated solutions in a variety of product areas, including key data center infrastructure, solar PV generation systems, energy storage systems, and electric vehicle charging.

500MWh Li-ion Battery Energy Storage Project Planned for Putian, Fujian Province

The Xiuyu district government of Putian City plans to invest over 1 billion RMB in a project which will consist of a large-scale Li-ion battery energy storage station.  The project has been divided into two stages, the first of which consist of one 100MWh Li-ion battery energy storage center, 4-6 EV charging stations, and 10 containerized mobile battery power supplies.  The second phase of the project will expand the capacity by an additional 400 MWh, 4 additional EV charging stations, and 20 additional containerized mobile battery power supplies.

First Stage of Vanadium Flow Battery Storage+Solar Project in Zaoyang, Hubei Goes into Operation

On January 5, developer Pingfan Ruifeng of Zaoyang, Hubei put into operation the first stage of its combined 10MW solar PV+10MW/40MWh vanadium flow battery storage project.  The first stage totals 3MW solar PV+3MW/12MWh of storage.  Pingfan Ruifeng has led the project as investor, while Beijing NEGO leads systems integration and has provided the majority of systems equipment aside from the vanadium flow battery, which has been supplied by VRB Energy.  The project is currently China’s largest solar PV+vanadium flow battery project and will provide such services as increased efficiency of solar energy usage, load shifting, smart energy distribution, grid stability, and more.

Guizhou Province Development and Reform Commission Releases Guidelines for Innovation and Improvement in Green Development

In January 2019, the Guizhou Development and Reform Commission released Guizhou Development and Reform Commission Suggestions for the Implementation of Greater Innovation and Improvement of Green Energy Price Mechanisms (贵州省发展和改革委员会关于创新和完善促进绿色发展价格机制的实施意见). The goal of the guidelines is to develop a price mechanism and price policy system by 2020 that will benefit green, low carbon development and the conservation of resources.  By 2025, the price mechanism should be nearly fully completed and implemented over the entire province.  Some of the main goals of the suggestions include: 1) innovation and development in policies related to water treatment payments; 2) the creation of a payment mechanism for treatment of solid waste; 3) the creation of a price mechanism for the benefit of water conservation; 4) innovation and development of electricity price mechanisms that are environmentally friendly and conservation-minded.

Beijing 798 Art Zone Plans to Install Peak Shifting Energy Storage Demonstration Project

Beijing’s 798 Art Zone is currently seeking bids for a peak shifting energy storage demonstration project.  According to the reports, the project is to be 0.5MW/1.5MWh in size and will rely on either NCM/NCA batteries or lithium iron phosphate batteries.  Battery manufacturers that have been considered included Panasonic, BYD, and Lishen.  The project has been given an estimated budget of 2.94 million RMB and an estimated construction time of 80 days.

Shenzhen 2.15MW/7.2MWh Second-Life Battery Storage Project Equipment and Installation Bidding

Foshan Comprehensive Energy Co has begun calls for bids for equipment procurement and installation for its 2.15MW/7.2MWh second-life Li-ion battery energy storage project in Shenzhen.  The project will be located in a Shenzhen industrial park and will be constructed using B batteries or retired electric vehicle batteries.  The project will have peak shaving capabilities, allowing the industrial park to save on electricity bills, and providing ancillary services for the grid. Successful bidders must have experience in the energy storage sector and must also have battery cell and pack manufacturing capabilities at an annual production capacity of 200MWh or more.

Wanli Tire Energy Storage Project Begins Trial Operations

On Dec. 13, the Wanli 6MW/36MWh lead-carbon battery energy storage project, funded by the Guangzhou Power Supply Bureau, began official trial operations. The project is the largest behind-the-meter energy storage station in the China Southern Power Grid region.  Calls for bids for supply of equipment opened in July of this year, with Narada Power earning the contract. Project operations are handled by the Guangzhou Suinengtong Integrated Energy Co.  The project occupies a space of approximately 1000 Sq meters.  The project helps reduce peak distribution loads, saving Wanli nearly 1 million RMB per year in electricity fees. 

Largest Ever Foreign Invested Project in Zhejiang Province Holds Launch Ceremony

On December 3, Zhejiang province’s largest foreign invested project—the Green Energy Storage Li-ion Battery Project—held an official launch ceremony.  Dutch Li-ion battery company Lithium Werks has planned to invest 1.6 billion Euro in the facility, which will occupy 60 hectares.  The project will consist of a new Li-ion battery factory and R&D center. Construction is planned to begin in 2019, and go into operation in early 2021. The factory will produce Li-ion batteries, modules, and battery management systems for use in energy storage, smart grids, and large-scale transportation equipment.

A cooperation agreement between Jiashan Economic Development Zone and Lithium Werks was signed on October 20. Lithium Werks is one of the world’s leading Li-ion battery manufacturers. 

Holley Group and Sermatec Sign First Energy Storage Supply Agreement Between Mainland and Taiwanese Companies

The supplier agreement signed between Holley Group of Taiwan and Sermatec of mainland China will provide 1MWh of lithium-iron-phosphate energy storage equipment for an industrial-commercial peak shaving project. The project will be the first in Taiwan to utilize energy storage equipment provided by a mainland Chinese company.

Holley was founded in Taiwan in 1968.  The company is a provider of advanced materials, equipment, and technologies, including composite materials, engineering plastics, printed circuit boards, semiconductors, flatscreen monitors, touchscreen panels, and more.  Holley has established subsidiary companies and/or agencies in the United States, Southeast Asia, mainland China, and Japan.

Sermatec is a Shanghai-based provider of energy storage solutions, including inverters, BMS, EMS, module design, and systems integration.

Hefei Offers Solar-plus-storage Systems 1 RMB/kWh Charging Subsidy; 1 Million RMB Available Per Year for Each Project

On Sept. 7th, the Hefei city government passed the Suggestions for Promoting the Development of Solar PV Industry policy.  The policy hopes to encourage an innovative, intelligent, and service-oriented solar industry.  To stimulate production and sales within the industry, the policy provides a one-time subsidy of 300,000 RMB to companies whose sales of solar cells, energy storage batteries, inverters, modules, glass panels, and other such solar and/or storage system components have exceeded 100 million RMB since January 1st of this year. For each additional 10 million RMB in sales, an additional 12,000 RMB will be provided.  A limit of 5,000,000 RMB is available per company per year.

For solar-plus-storage projects put into operation after the release of this policy, the use of modules, energy storage batteries, and inverters that are officially recommended by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, or included in the Hefei Recommended Solar PV Products List will receive an energy storage charging subsidy of 1 RMB/kWh, with a limit of 1 million RMB per project per year.

Renewable Microgrid Demonstration Project in Erlianhaote City, Inner Mongolia Will Include 30MW of Storage

Renewable energy continues to increase in Erlianhaote city.  As of August 2018, operational wind and solar power in the city totaled 35.9MW.  From January to August 2018, Erlianhaote produced 506,000 MWh of renewable energy, an increase of 4.2% from the previous year.

In September of 2015, the National Energy Administration announced plans to begin construction of a renewable microgrid project in Erlianhaote.  The microgrid project extends across Erlianhaote and five of its surrounding banners (counties) in Xilingol league.  The project consists of 7 microgrid clusters at a total capacity of 2,535 MW.  The Erlianhaote portion of the microgrid totals 420 MW of combined renewable energy installations (280MW of wind power, 90MW of solar PV, and 50MW of solar thermal) and 30MW of energy storage.

At present, construction has already begun on 90MW of solar PV generation.  In addition, preliminary work has completed on 280 MW of wind generation, with construction set to begin before the end of the year.  Preliminary work has also begun on the solar thermal and energy storage portions of the project.