State Power Investment Group Co., Ltd. (referred to as "State Power Investment") is a super large state-owned important backbone enterprise directly managed by the central government. It was established in July 2015 through the restructuring of the former China Power Investment Group Corporation and State Nuclear Power Technology Co., Ltd. State Grid Corporation of China is one of the five major power generation groups in China and the world's largest photovoltaic power generation enterprise. In 2021, it ranked 293rd among the Fortune Global 500 companies, with a business scope covering 46 countries and regions.

We searched for investments made by State Grid Corporation of China in the energy storage field and found that it invested in the iron chromium liquid flow route and Ruidian Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd.





Simultaneously investing in all vanadium flow batteries:

Related news: On August 29th, the groundbreaking ceremony for the base project of Hubei Lvdong Vanadium New Energy Co., Ltd. and the 100MW/500MWh all vanadium flow battery energy storage project of State Power Investment Corporation was grandly held in the High tech Zone.

It is understood that the company plans to invest 9.32 billion yuan in the high-tech zone, 4.32 billion yuan to build a 100MW all vanadium flow battery energy storage power station and a 500MW distributed rooftop photovoltaic installation project, and 5 billion yuan to build a 1GW wind and photovoltaic power generation project. Among them, the 100MW all vanadium flow battery energy storage power station project with an investment of 1.9 billion yuan has a construction land area of approximately 120 acres



Recently, there have been reports that companies under the State Power Investment Corporation of China will invest in the third liquid flow battery technology route: all iron liquid flow.

Why does State Grid Corporation of China pay attention to such long-term energy storage technology?

Why invest in liquid flow batteries with multiple technological routes simultaneously?

According to a white paper jointly released by the Global Long Term Energy Storage Council and McKinsey, in order to achieve the goal of global carbon neutrality and meet the energy storage needs of wind and solar power generation, a long-term energy storage capacity of 85-140 TWh needs to be deployed globally by 2040.

The Global Long Term Energy Storage Council releases a White Paper on Long Term Energy Storage (Abstract and Documents)

The global disposable energy consumption in 2020 was 55.663 billion joules, of which China's disposable energy consumption was 14.546 billion joules, accounting for approximately 26%.

Based on this ratio, China's long-term energy storage capacity needs approximately 22-36 TWh.

State Grid Corporation of China is the world's largest photovoltaic power generation enterprise, and the characteristic of photovoltaic power generation is the need to rely on energy storage for long-term power supply at night.



Taking the 48 hour data from California State Grid in April 2018 as an example, at that time, wind and solar power production was far from meeting the total electricity demand. If the wind and solar power is increased to four times, the total power generation can meet the demand, but it requires about 8-10 hours of energy storage to shift the peak of daytime electricity to nighttime use.

Based on an average energy storage installation cost of 1000 yuan/KWh, the investment scale brought by the long-term energy storage capacity of 22TWh-36TWh is estimated to be RMB 22-36 trillion.

This may be why the State Power Investment Corporation is so focused on long-term energy storage, which is the king of the future energy storage market!

Among various long-term energy storage technology routes, the planned installed capacity of pumped storage in China by 2030 is 120GW, with an estimated 8-hour storage time of 0.96TWh.

It can be seen that the resources of pumped storage severely constrain development, and over 90% of long-term energy storage capacity needs to be achieved through other technological routes.

Among numerous long-term energy storage technology centers, flow batteries, as the least environmentally constrained technology, are becoming a hot topic of concern for investors.



Although there are differences in the technical routes of various flow batteries, the overall structure is basically shown in the above figure, divided into power unit: reactor, capacity unit: electrolyte and other components.

The power unit and capacity unit structures are decoupled, so costs can be continuously reduced during the process of capacity expansion.

However, both lithium-ion batteries and sodium ion batteries have a power capacity coupling structure, and the power and capacity increase proportionally, so they are not suitable for long-term energy storage.

And currently, most of the electrolytes used in various flow battery routes are water-based electrolytes, which have no safety risks such as combustion and explosion. This also makes the flow battery route the preferred technology for long-term energy storage on the power generation side.

At present, various liquid flow technologies are in the early stages of commercialization, and State Grid Corporation of China will invest in each commercialized route, indicating that they are using a track strategy. As long as liquid flow batteries are successfully scaled up, there will definitely be their enterprises.

We look forward to liquid flow batteries shining brightly in long-term energy storage on the power generation side!

Related articles:

The Global Long Term Energy Storage Council was established at COP26! (including the technical routes of each founding member)

reference material:

http://www.spic.com.cn/xtdt1/202006/t20200630_310927.htm

http://xyftz.xiangyang.gov.cn/item?iid=1053234c9be44c19

https://new.qq.com/rain/a/20211022A02Z9Z00

https://www.smart-energy.com/industry-sectors/policy-regulation/long-duration-energy-storage-must-grid/

http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2021-09/09/content_5636487.htm



Introduction to ZH Energy Storage Company:

Shenzhen ZH Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. is committed to the research and development, promotion, and application of energy storage technology, aiming to help achieve China's goal of "carbon neutrality" through the application of electrochemical energy storage technology. In the early stages of development, the company focused on providing technical support and consulting services to the Chinese energy storage market by leveraging its accumulated industry experience and outstanding research and development capabilities in the field of energy storage. At the same time, the company focuses on investigating and analyzing the Chinese energy storage market, developing or introducing the most advanced and effective energy storage technologies for the Chinese market, including but not limited to: liquid flow battery systems, lithium-ion battery materials, fuel cells, and ion exchange membranes.