CGDG And The Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of CAS Will Cooperate to Construct The First 50MW/600MWh Liquid Air Energy Storage Demonstration Project

On April 20th, CGDG signed an investment agreement with the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, to establish a company and build a world-class liquid air energy storage (LAES) technology platform. Shortly, the two companies will start the construction of the first 50MW/600MWh LAES demonstration project. Based on novel technologies, LAES is a new approach to accommodate more renewable energy such as wind and solar, intake the redundant electricity in low demand periods and different forms of waste thermal resources, and stably output many forms of energy like cold, heat, electricity and gas, etc.

Ministry of Education of China Issued The Construction Plan for Carbon Peaking & Carbon Neutrality Higher Education Training System

On May 7, the Ministry of Education of China Issued The Construction Plan for Carbon Peaking & Carbon Neutrality Higher Education Training System, calling for incorporating the green and low-carbon concepts into education systems and carrying out green and low-carbon education activities for the public. The Plan calls for speeding up the construction of majors related to energy storage and hydrogen energy and promotes universities to speed up the training of talents in energy storage and hydrogen energy technologies, meeting the demand for large-capacity, long-duration energy storage, and achieving full-chain coverage in relating industries. Additionally, the plan also calls for cultivating talents in wind, solar, hydropower, and nuclear power, and promoting the construction of courses and textbooks in the field of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality.

The National Energy Administration Issued The List of Key Technical Equipment & Projects in The Energy Sector of 2021

On May 13, the National Energy Administration of China issued The List of Key Technical Equipment & Projects in The Energy Sector of 2021, including 75 technical equipment & projects, of which the new energy storage sector involves 6 technical equipment & projects. CNESA, entrusted by the National Energy Administration of China, assisted in organizing the evaluation of the key technical equipment & projects in the energy storage sector.

CHNG Huangtai Energy Storage Station Entered the Market And Traded 855MWh of Electricity

Huangtai Energy Storage Station of China Huaneng Group Corporation (CHNG) announced that it has completed the registration process and has been qualified to participate in the electricity spot market. In the last few months, there were three storage stations, Tengyuan Energy Storage Station of China Huadian Corporation, Haiyang Energy Storage Station of State Power Investment Corporation, and Qingyun Energy Storage Station of China Three Gorges Corporation, which have entered the spot market. After these four stations entered the market, they participated in 50 auctions, completed 56 charge-discharge cycles, and traded 9621MWh of electricity. There was a 120MW/212MWh BESS which used the leading LFP batteries as its storage units in Huangtai Station. And it has significant economic benefits for its annual revenue is expected to reach 18 million yuan according to the current electricity price difference of 330 yuan/MWh, charge-discharge cycle loss of 15%, and the annual charge-discharge cycle of 330 times.

Lithium-ion Battery + Flywheel Hybrid Storage System Was Firstly Used in Frequency Regulation in Grid of China

The high-power maglev flywheel + battery storage AGC frequency regulation project, led by a thermal plant of China Huadian Corporation in Shuozhou, officially began construction on March 22. And it will be China's first flywheel + battery storage project used in frequency regulation when finished. The project has a budget of 33.72 million yuan, using a 5MW/5MWh BESS and a 2MW/0.4MWh flywheel storage system. It is expected to complete the research and development process of the flywheel and battery control system and ready to operate in August, and will be online by the end of 2022. It will be the first application of the hybrid storage system in the power grid frequency regulation scenario in China.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China Released the Domestic Lithium-ion Battery Industry Status From January to February 2022

From January to February 2022, China's lithium-ion battery industry maintained a rapid growth trend, according to enterprise information announcements and research institutions' estimates, the total domestic lithium battery output exceeds 82GWh. In the lithium-ion battery segment, the output of batteries for energy storage exceeds 9GWh, and the installed capacity of batteries for EVs is about 30GWh. The output of cathode materials, anode materials, separators, and electrolytes reached 235,000 tons, 140,000 tons, 1.75 billion square meters, and 105,000 tons respectively. For the raw materials used in lithium batteries, the output of Li2CO3 and LiOH reached 37,000 tons and 29,000 tons respectively, and the market price was running at a high level and continued to rise. At the end of February, the price exceeded 480,000 yuan/ton and 440,000 yuan/ton respectively.

NDRC and the National Energy Administration of China Issued the Medium and Long Term Development Plan for Hydrogen Industry (2021-2035)

On March 23, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration of China Issued the Medium and Long Term Development Plan for Hydrogen Industry (2021-2035) to carry out demonstration applications in the field of energy storage. According to the plan, hydrogen has the advantages of a long cycle and large storage capacity, and hydrogen storage will be demonstrated in scenarios such as renewable energy uptake and peak regulation in the grid. China will explore the new mode for the application of "energy generation by wind and solar + energy storage by hydrogen", and gradually build an integrated energy storage system of pumped hydro storage, electrochemical storage, hydrogen storage, etc. And China will explore the synergistic optimization potential of hydrogen in different energy networks and promote the connectivity of electricity, heat, fuels, and other forms of energy resources.

NDRC and the National Energy Administration of China Issued the New Energy Storage Development Plan During "14th Five-Year Plan" Period

On March 21, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration of China issued the New Energy Storage Development Plan During China’s "14th Five-Year Plan" Period. The plan specified development goals for new energy storage in China, by 2025, new energy storage technologies will step into a large-scale development period and meet the conditions for large-scale commercial applications. The performance of electrochemical energy storage technology will be further improved, and the system cost will be reduced by more than 30%. The new energy storage technology based on conventional power plants and compressed air energy storage technology (CAES) with a scale of hundreds of megawatts will realize engineering applications. Mechanical energy storage technologies such as megawatt-scale flywheel energy storage will gradually become mature, breakthroughs will be made in long-duration energy storage technologies such as hydrogen storage and thermal (cold) storage. By 2030, new energy storage technologies will develop in a market-oriented way.

The first batch of independent energy storage facilities in Shandong participates in electricity spot trading

On February 25, Shandong Power Exchange Center announced the information of the three independent energy storage facilities registered in February (as of February 21). As of February 25, the registration procedures for the batch of independent energy storage facilities in the Shandong Power Exchange Center have taken effect. The first batch of three independent energy storage stations include Tengyuan Energy Storage Station of China Huadian Corporation, Haiyang Energy Storage Station of State Power Investment Corporation, and Qingyun Energy Storage Station of China Three Gorges Corporation. At present, the three energy storage stations have become the first batch in the country to participate in the electricity spot market.

China Southern Power Grid issued the "14th Five-Year" Development Plan for Emerging Businesses

The "14th Five-Year" Development Plan for Emerging Businesses proposes that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, in promoting the realization of the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals and building a new power system based on new energy resources, the development of emerging businesses will usher in an important period of strategizing, upgrading and reforming. Taking energy storage sector as an example, during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the company will promote the construction of pumped storage hydropower stations orderly and explore to promote the construction and operation of new energy storage technologies. The installed capacity of peak and frequency regulation power supply will exceed 15 GW, and the scale of new energy storage technologies will reach 2GW.

Baoan Xin: Strive to increase electrochemical energy storage from 3 GW to 100 GW in 2030

On February 23, "People's Daily" published an article signed by Baoan Xin, CEO of State Grid Corporation of China. The article pointed out that in order to meet the requirements of developing energy storage and improve the adjustment capacity of the power system, we should strengthen the construction of well-developed pumped storage hydropower stations,  actively support the application of new energy storage technologies, and strive to increase the installed capacity of pumped storage hydropower stations from the current 26.3 GW to 100GW, and to increase the installed capacity of the electrochemical storage stations from 3 GW to 100 GW in 2030.

South China Energy Regulatory Office issued the “Notice on Strengthening the Supervision of the Development and Application of New Energy Storage Technologies”

On February 28, the notice required the energy authorities of Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan provinces to speed up the issuance of development plans for new energy storage technologies in these regions, support research on various energy storage technologies and control technologies, and fully consider the construction of energy storage demonstration projects with large-capacity, long-duration and comprehensive application, support new energy storage technologies to participate in the medium and long-term electricity market, spot market and ancillary service market as an independent market entity. Authorities should improve the compensation system of power supply side energy storage, support conventional power sources such as thermal power and new energy storage technologies to participate in auxiliary services together such as peak regulation, frequency regulation and reserve dispatch, improve the subsidies for energy storage allocated to renewable energy sources, and support grid-side energy storage stations to expand business models such as "shared energy storage" mode or direct participation in the electricity market, and support user-side energy storage to combine with high-load industrial demands, 5G base stations, charging networks, industrial parks and other load and other distribute power generators to form direct-controlled dispatchable “virtual power plants” or “integrated energy operators” to participate in electricity markets.