New energy-storage industry booms amid China's green drive

BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. carmaker Tesla broke ground on a mega factory in Shanghai on Thursday to produce its energy-storage batteries Megapack. The move coincided with rapid growth of China's new energy-storage industry, which is backed by the country's commitment to developing the green economy and renewable energy.

As China strives to achieve its dual carbon goals, the country is vigorously developing a green economy, with renewable energy as one of the engines, which provides a robust demand for the new energy storage industry.

This year's government work report noted the development of new energy storage as one of the measures to promote green and low-carbon development.

New energy storage refers to energy-storage technologies other than conventional pump storage. It offers advantages such as a short construction period, flexible layout and fast response.

An energy-storage system charges when wind power or photovoltaic power generates a large volume of electricity or when the power consumption is low, and it discharges otherwise. It can smooth the unstable output of photovoltaic power or wind power to increase the proportion of renewable energy in the grid, playing a vital role in mass use of renewable energy.

VAST MARKET

China's renewable energy sector has maintained fast growth in recent years. According to the latest data from China's National Energy Administration, in the first quarter of 2024, the country's newly installed capacity of renewable energy was 63.67 million kW, marking an increase of 34 percent year on year.

In the first quarter, the renewable energy generation reached 687.5 billion kWh, accounting for 30.7 percent of total power generation.

The rapid growth of renewable energy generation has created a large market demand for energy storage facilities. By the end of the first quarter of 2024, the cumulative installed capacity of new energy-storage projects in China had reached 35.3 million kW. This marks an increase of more than 12 percent over the end of 2023 and an increase of more than 210 percent year on year.

According to a report recently issued by China Energy Storage Alliance, the world's newly installed capacity of new energy storage reached a record high of 45.6 million kW in 2023. China, Europe, and the United States continue to lead the global market in the sector. Their newly installed capacity in 2023 accounted for 88 percent of the global total, with China making up nearly 50 percent.

Commenting on China's new energy market, Tesla's vice president Tao Lin said China boasts vast market potential and complete industrial chains. After the groundbreaking ceremony Thursday, Tesla signed a deal with Shanghai Lingang Economic Development (Group) Co., Ltd., securing the first batch of orders for its Megapacks in China.

TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION

Tesla's Megapack is an electrochemical energy storage device that uses lithium batteries, a dominant technical route in the new energy-storage industry. About 97 percent of China's new energy-storage facilities used lithium batteries in 2023.

Recognizing the diverse scenarios and needs in power systems, China is encouraging technological innovation in new energy storage, achieving breakthroughs across various technical approaches.

At the beginning of 2024, the National Energy Administration released a list of 56 new energy-storage pilot projects. About 30 percent of the projects belong to Lithium-ion battery route, others cover fields of compressed air, flow battery, sodium-ion battery, gravity, flywheel, carbon dioxide, lead-carbon battery and liquid air.

Some local projects across the country that use innovative technologies have recently been begun test operations or been put into service.

Taking this month for example. On May 4, a gravity energy-storage station completed the test operation in Rudong County, east China's Jiangsu. The station uses an 148-meter-high gravity storage tower to store electricity. The county plans to build a total of six such stations.

On May 11, a sodium-ion battery energy-storage station was put into operation in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, as an initial phase of an energy-storage project. After completion, the project's overall capacity will reach a level of 100 MWh, which can meet the power demand of some 35,000 households every year.

Southwest China's Sichuan Province also announced in May that it will build a vanadium-battery energy storage industry base and support the application of such energy storage facilities in renewable energy generation, power grid peak regulation and frequency regulation, and communication base station energy storage.