The track is hot and the competition is fierce
In recent years, with the rapid increase in the penetration rate of renewable energy, the development of new energy storage has entered the fast lane, and the installed capacity has continued to reach new highs. By the end of 2023, the cumulative installed capacity of new energy storage projects that have been completed and put into operation across the country has reached 31.39 million kW/66.87 million kWh, with an average energy storage duration of 2.1 hours, of which the new installed capacity is about 22.6 million kW/48.7 million kWh, an increase of more than 260% from the end of 2022. The new energy storage has opened a new stage from the early pilot demonstration to large-scale commercialization.
While the new energy storage track is developing hotly, the competition is becoming more and more fierce, and the problems of industry involution and overcapacity are becoming increasingly prominent. "Half of the flame, half of the seawater", the energy storage industry is experiencing two days of ice and fire.
On the one hand, there are many cross-border energy storage players. For example, enterprises and capital in the fields of clothing, real estate, logistics, food, and environmental protection have flocked to the energy storage industry. Tianyancha data shows that more than 37,000 new registered energy storage companies will be added in China in 2022, and more than 50,000 will continue to be added in 2023. The entry of more enterprises and capital will, to a certain extent, promote the breakthrough development of the entire industry. However, energy storage has a high technical threshold, and having core technologies and products is the long-term way.
On the other hand, the disorderly expansion of production capacity, overcapacity such as battery cells, and the homogenization of products. Since 2023, the product price war has intensified, approaching the cost line step by step, which has greatly affected the profitability of enterprises and caused difficulties for enterprises to survive to a certain extent.
Technological innovation breaks the situation and develops
Since the "14th Five-Year Plan", the new installed capacity of new energy storage has directly promoted economic investment of more than 100 billion yuan, becoming a new growth pole of the mainland economy. The new energy storage market is accelerating, but the involution of the supply-side industry is intensifying, and the disorderly and bottomless price competition makes the market full of potential risks.
The industry is competing for quality, technology, and safety, rather than low prices, cutting corners, and false promises. Focusing on high-quality development and creating differentiated competitive advantages through technological innovation is the way for enterprises to solve problems, so as to break out of a "blue ocean" in the "red ocean".
A new round of rally competition is opening, based on solving difficult pain points such as cost, life, and safety, and leading energy storage companies such as CATL, Sungrow, and Trina Energy Storage are making steady progress, and continue to launch new technologies and new products such as multiple safety designs, large-capacity batteries, high-temperature resistant batteries, immersion liquid cooling technology, and 5MWh+ integrated equipment, aiming at higher safety, better cost performance, and higher investment returns throughout the life cycle, supporting the grid-connected consumption of new energy with high-quality energy storage, and escorting the stable operation of the new power system.
As an industry leader, CATL continues to lead innovation and sustainable development, and once again breaks new heights of industry recognition with its leading R&D technology and extreme manufacturing capabilities. On April 9, CATL launched the world's first 5-year zero-attenuation energy storage system that can be mass-produced, CATL Tianheng. CATL's Tianheng energy storage system integrates "5 years of zero attenuation, 6.25 MWh, and multi-dimensional true safety", pressing the accelerator key for the large-scale application and high-quality development of new energy storage.
According to Xu Jinmei, CTO of CATL's Energy Storage Division and President of the Energy Storage Europe Business Department, CATL's Tianheng energy storage system combines lithium replenishment technology and lithium-ion self-healing technology, and adopts bionic SEI and self-assembled electrolyte technology to clear roadblocks for lithium-ions, achieving zero attenuation of power and capacity for 5 years, and controllable and non-growth of auxiliary power consumption throughout the life cycle.
At the same time, the system "loads" 6.25 MWh of high-energy into an industry-wide 20-foot container. By matching the L series of zero-attenuation long-life batteries for energy storage, the energy density of lithium iron phosphate energy storage batteries can reach 430Wh/L, and the energy density per unit area can be increased by 30% while the floor area is reduced by 20%.
In addition, it also builds a comprehensive safety system on the most critical "thermal safety", "electrical safety", "mechanical safety" and "maintenance safety" of the energy storage system through multiple safety designs.
From the perspective of the industry, the release of this new product is of important significance for leading technological innovation, breaking the chaos of the industry, and promoting the high-quality development of the new energy storage industry.
Value competition and long-termism
In 2024, there will continue to be excess energy storage capacity, and oversupply will become the main tone of the market. The Advanced Industry Research Institute predicts that in 2024, China's new energy storage market as a whole will be oversupplied, and the competition in system integration will be more brutal than that of battery cells, and more than 50% of energy storage system companies will be eliminated. In the face of overcapacity and accelerated industry reshuffle, the energy storage industry should have confidence in the market prospects for healthy and orderly development. New energy storage is an important part of the construction of a new energy system and a new power system, which has the function of regulating resources, and plays an important role in promoting the high proportion of new energy consumption and ensuring the real-time balance of electricity and electricity.
With the continuous introduction of favorable policies for energy storage and the increasingly mature business model, the new energy storage industry will accelerate from "cost competition" to "value competition" in the future. Enterprises should be based on "energy storage development is a long-term solution rather than a temporary benefit", focus on long-termism, keep the bottom line of safety and quality, persevere in product quality, life and efficiency, and stand out in the market competition with continuous R&D investment and technology iteration, fast and effective demand response, and high-quality and efficient after-sales service.
Based on the overall long-term development of the industry, it is more necessary for the industry chain to work together to build a sustainable new energy storage future led by safety systems, empirical standards, and ecological integration.
Source: CATL