At the 2024 SMM 19th Lead-Zinc Conference and Lead-Zinc Technology Innovation Forum - Lead-Acid Battery Technology Forum hosted by SMM, Hou Guoyou, general manager of Nanjing Qiantan Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd., reviewed the energy storage market, explained the current situation of China's lead-acid batteries, discussed the energy storage lead-carbon battery technology, and looked forward to the development prospects of energy storage lead-carbon battery technology.
Energy storage market review
Energy storage market in 2023
By the end of 2023, 97.4% of lithium-ion battery energy storage has been put into operation, 0.5% of lead-carbon battery energy storage, 0.5% of compressed air energy storage, 0.4% of flow battery energy storage, and 1.2% of other new energy storage technologies.
In 2023, the National Energy Administration will conscientiously implement the new energy security strategy of "four revolutions and one cooperation", anchor the "dual carbon" goal, and promote the diversified and high-quality development of new energy storage. New energy storage has increasingly become a key technology for the construction of a new energy system and a new power system in the mainland, an important direction for cultivating emerging industries, and an important starting point for promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of energy production and consumption.
New energy storage has developed rapidly, with an installed capacity of more than 30 million kilowatts in operation. 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 will reach 31.39 million kW/66.87 million kWh, with an average energy storage duration of 2.1 hours. In 2023, the new installed capacity will be about 22.6 million kW/48.7 million kWh, an increase of more than 260% from the end of 2022 and nearly 10 times the installed capacity at the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan. From the perspective of investment scale, since the "14th Five-Year Plan", the new new energy storage capacity has directly promoted economic investment of more than 100 billion yuan, driven the further expansion of the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, and become a "new driving force" for the mainland's economic development.
The development of new energy storage has been accelerated in many places, and the installed capacity of 11 provinces (regions) has exceeded one million kilowatts. By the end of 2023, the top five provinces and regions with the cumulative installed capacity of new energy storage are Shandong, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Gansu and Hunan, with an installed capacity of more than 2 million kilowatts, and six provinces and regions, including Ningxia, Guizhou, Guangdong, Hubei, Anhui and Guangxi, with an installed capacity of more than 1 million kilowatts. In terms of sub-regions, new energy storage in North China and Northwest China has developed rapidly, accounting for more than 50% of the country's installed capacity, of which 29% is in Northwest China and 27% is in North China.
By the end of 2023, the installed capacity of new energy storage will be about 12.36 million kilowatts, mainly distributed in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Gansu and other provinces and regions with rapid new energy development. The second is to improve the level of safe and stable operation of the system, and the installed capacity of independent energy storage and shared energy storage has reached 15.39 million kilowatts, accounting for an upward trend, mainly distributed in Shandong, Hunan, Ningxia and other provinces and regions with large system regulation needs. The third is to serve users flexibly and efficiently use energy, and the energy storage of industrial and commercial users in Guangdong, Zhejiang and other provinces has developed rapidly.
By the end of 2023, the total energy of lithium-ion battery projects in operation was 48.77GWh, accounting for 95.89% (of which 99.9% was lithium iron phosphate), followed by lead-acid/lead-carbon batteries (2.26%), flow batteries (1.02%), and other battery types with 0.83%.
In 2023, the utilization of electrochemical energy storage will be basically stable on the whole, with an average operating coefficient of 0.13 (average daily operating hours of 3.12 hours and an average annual operating hour of 1139 hours), an average utilization rate of 27%, an average equivalent charge and discharge times of 162 times, an average output coefficient of 0.54, and an average backup coefficient of 0.84.
The current situation of lead batteries in China
China's battery import and export situation in 2023
China's battery import and export: According to China's customs data, China's battery import volume in December 2023 was 84 million, a year-on-year increase of 36.6%, and the import value was US$293 million, a year-on-year increase of 17.5%, and the number of Chinese battery exports in December 2023 was 352 million, a year-on-year decrease of 1%, and the export value was US$5.577 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 10.6%; From January to December 2023, China's battery import volume was 834 million units, with an import value of US$2.609 billion, and the export volume was 4.265 billion units, with an export value of US$68.496 billion.
China's lead-acid battery production and export: In 2023, China's lead-acid battery output will be 24,500kVAh, a year-on-year increase of 3.6%; China's lead-acid battery market size is expected to be 175 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.9%.
The export volume of lead-acid batteries in 2023 has increased significantly: according to customs data, the export volume of lead-acid batteries in November 2023 will be 19.5409 million, an increase of 7.26% month-on-month and 15.16% year-on-year, and the cumulative export volume from January to November 2023 will be 222 million, an increase of 13.14% year-on-year.
Lead-acid battery companies in Southeast Asia: From the perspective of investors, Chinese companies account for about 29%, Japanese companies account for about 27%, and local companies in Southeast Asia account for about 42%, and most of the factories built are located in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and other places. The production of lead-acid batteries in Southeast Asia is mainly automobile starting batteries, supplemented by motorcycle batteries, and only two companies, PBI and Hitachi Chemical, are engaged in the production and sales of a full range of lead-acid batteries.
Discussion on energy storage lead-carbon battery technology
Definition of lead-carbon battery for energy storage
Lead-carbon battery: The asymmetric capacitor and the lead-acid battery are compounded in the same battery system, and carbon materials are directly added to the negative electrode, which not only solves the sulfation of the negative electrode, but also maintains the high energy density of the battery, and has the characteristics of high power, fast charging and discharging, and long cycle life of the supercapacitor.
The research and development of lead-carbon batteries needs to accelerate the research and development of materials and processes to improve the cycle life, HRPSoC performance, and consistency of batteries.
Mechanism of lead-carbon battery for energy storage
Lead-carbon batteries: Lead-acid batteries and supercapacitors are effectively combined. It not only maintains the high energy density of the battery, but also has the characteristics of high power, fast charging and discharging, long cycle life of supercapacitors, and HPSoC performance. Lead-acid batteries that are not made of carbon-containing materials (such as graphite, carbon black, ordinary activated carbon, etc.) are lead-carbon batteries.
Research direction of energy storage lead-carbon battery
Research objectives: to improve the energy density, power density, cycle life and reduce the cost of lead-carbon batteries
Research basis: the failure mechanism of lead-carbon batteries for energy storage, the influence of charge-discharge strategy on the performance of lead-carbon batteries in constant power application mode, the influence of carbon materials on performance, the overall matching of anode, cathode and electrolyte, the consistency of voltage, capacity and internal resistance in batteries and battery clusters, etc.
Research on energy storage lead-carbon battery technology
In terms of material technology, research and application of positive corrosion-resistant alloys, research and application of anode additives, research and application of graphene separators.
In terms of structural technology, the design of the internal direct connection structure of the battery, the design of the series-parallel connection algorithm and the liquid cooling structure of the energy storage system, the design of thermal simulation and stress simulation.
Manufacturing technology: fully automated manufacturing technology, digital intelligent manufacturing management technology.
Application technology: battery BMS management strategy technology, battery modular management technology.
O&M technology: intelligent remote O&M cloud technology, big data analysis and prediction technology.
Recycling technology: replacement and treatment technology of used batteries, safe transportation technology, recycling technology and resource reuse technology.
The latest developments in the research of energy storage lead-acid batteries
Prospect of lead-carbon batteries for energy storage
New energy storage technology route
The new energy storage mainly includes three types of technology paths: electricity storage (electrochemical energy storage, mechanical energy storage, electromagnetic energy storage), hydrogen storage, and heat storage. Compared with pumped hydro storage, electrochemical energy storage has the advantages of short construction period, simple and flexible site selection, strong adjustment ability, etc., and has better matching with new energy development and consumption, with obvious advantages.
Policies guide the development of energy storage lead-carbon battery technology
At the beginning of 2022, the national "14th Five-Year Plan" Implementation Plan for the Development of New Energy Storage also made it clear that the research and application of key core technologies, equipment and integrated optimization design including lead-carbon batteries, sodium-ion batteries, new lithium-ion batteries, flow batteries, compressed air, hydrogen (ammonia) energy storage, and thermal (cold) energy storage will be carried out to support the construction of a new power system and accelerate the high-quality and large-scale development of new energy storage.
On August 22, 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Commerce issued the "Work Plan for the Steady Growth of Light Industry (2023-2024)", which requires vigorously developing high-safety lithium batteries, lead-carbon batteries, sodium batteries and other products, and expanding their applications in new energy vehicles, energy storage, communications and other fields.
Long-term energy storage promotes the upgrading and application of lead-acid battery technology
Large-scale new energy distribution and storage requirements, long-term energy storage policies, and multi-provincial electricity price policies promote the development of long-term energy storage, and lead-acid batteries are suitable for one charge and one discharge, which has the advantages of energy storage applications.
Lead-carbon energy storage peak shaving and valley filling + power backup will be widely used
The energy storage lead-carbon battery adopts inorganic electrolyte, relatively low energy density, recycling up to 99.8%, and the recycling system has been gradually improved, which has the advantages of high safety, high residual value and low LCOE in the field of electrochemical energy storage.
Industrial and commercial user side: energy storage peak shaving and valley filling + power backup + virtual power plant scheduling;
5G base station: energy storage peak shaving and valley filling + backup mode + virtual power plant scheduling;
Shared energy storage on the power supply side and grid side: capacity leasing + market-oriented transactions (peak regulation, frequency regulation).