Since the beginning of this year, the liquid flow battery energy storage technology has become much more lively than in previous years, and many enterprises have participated in the layout of vanadium materials to enter the energy storage industry.
Since the golden autumn of October, there have been frequent reports of all vanadium liquid flow energy storage.
On October 1st, the construction of Three Gorges Energy Jimusaer 250MW/1GWh all vanadium liquid flow energy storage+1 million kilowatts of photovoltaic began;
On October 26th, China Energy Conservation Solar Energy Co., Ltd. announced that the 250MW/1GWh vanadium liquid flow energy storage+1 million kW market-oriented grid connected photovoltaic power generation project in Chabuchar County has been approved;

On the afternoon of October 30th, the world's largest and most powerful all vanadium flow battery energy storage and peak shaving power station (100MW/400MWh) was connected to the grid for power generation in Dalian, Liaoning.

However, what attracts the most market attention is still which companies can truly integrate into energy storage projects. On November 3rd, the bid for the 1GWh all vanadium flow battery energy storage system of CNNC Huineng was opened, and five companies were shortlisted!

The bidding announcement shows that CNNC Huineng Co., Ltd. will purchase a total capacity of 5.5GWh of energy storage systems for its new energy project from 2022 to 2023, divided into three sections: the first section will purchase 1GWh of all vanadium flow battery energy storage systems. The second and third sections respectively purchase 2.7GWh lithium iron phosphate battery air-cooled energy storage systems and 1.8GWh lithium iron phosphate battery liquid cooled energy storage systems, to be applied in the form of shared energy storage or new energy supporting energy storage.
On October 3rd, the highly anticipated candidates for the winning bid of the all vanadium liquid flow battery energy storage system were announced. Five companies, including Dalian Rongke, Weilide, Liquid Flow Energy Storage, State Grid Electric Power Research Institute Wuhan Nanrui, and Shanxi Guorun Energy Storage, were shortlisted. From the bidding prices of five companies, the average unit price of the all vanadium flow battery energy storage system is about 3.1 yuan/Wh, which is more than twice the cost of the previously opened lithium iron phosphate battery energy storage system (see the end of the article). However, from the perspective of the entire life cycle, the lifespan of lithium batteries in actual operation energy storage projects may be less than 8 years, but the lifespan of all vanadium flow batteries can reach 20 years or more, and their single cycle cost will be lower than that of lithium battery energy storage technology.

Among the bidding candidates announced this time, the first place winner for this section is Dalian Rongke Energy Storage Technology Development Co., Ltd., with a bidding price of 2650398915 yuan and a unit price of 2.65 yuan/Wh.

Founded in 2008 by Dalian Rongke Energy Storage Group Co., Ltd. and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian Rongke Energy Storage is one of the earliest enterprises engaged in full vanadium flow battery industry chain services in China. On October 30th, the world's largest 200MW/800MWh flow battery energy storage power station designed and manufactured by Dalian Rongke was officially connected to the Liaoning power grid.

Sichuan Weilide Energy Co., Ltd., the second winning candidate, was established in 2004 and is the only global research and manufacturing enterprise with GW level production capacity for all vanadium flow batteries. At present, Weilide has five major production bases in China. Apart from its headquarters in Sichuan, the other production areas are located in Xinjiang, Gansu, Ningxia, and other regions. In July of this year, Weilide signed strategic cooperation agreements with CNNC Titanium White and GCL Group respectively, laying out the integration and project of all vanadium flow battery systems.

The enterprise with the lowest quotation in this bidding by CNNC Huineng is Liquid Flow Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. Its total bidding price is 2.2 billion yuan, with a unit price of approximately 2.2 yuan/Wh.

According to the data, Liquid Flow Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. was established in February 2022 with a joint investment of 100 million yuan from Tian'en Energy Co., Ltd. and Jiangsu Fanyu Energy Technology Co., Ltd., each holding 51% and 49% respectively. According to the official website, there are third-generation liquid flow battery technology, vanadium electrolyte, iron chromium electrolyte technology, and corresponding iterative research and development capabilities. Currently, mature liquid flow energy storage stacks and electrolyte products are available for external sales.

Since 2022, the liquid flow energy storage company has established six subsidiaries in Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Gansu, Shandong, and Xinjiang provinces, with a total investment of 90 million yuan. Its production area layout is no less than that of Weilide. The Mongolian East production area plans to construct a liquid flow battery production line and energy storage integration line in three phases, with two 250MW liquid flow battery and energy storage system integration production lines in the first phase.

State Grid Electric Power Research Institute Wuhan Nanrui Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary of State Grid Corporation of China and the only enterprise with a state-owned enterprise background among the winning candidates.
Previously, State Grid Yingda publicly stated that based on the characteristics of safe use, long service life, low cost throughout the entire life cycle, and independent output power and energy storage capacity of all vanadium flow batteries, State Grid Yingda is conducting in-depth research and practice on commercial operation modes, promoting all vanadium flow energy storage demonstration projects, and has completed the integration of the Hankou Railway Station all vanadium flow battery energy storage power station. It has also won the bid for the Hubei Guangshui megawatt hour all vanadium flow battery energy storage project. In addition, it has completed the modular engineering design of the 250kW all vanadium flow battery stack, the improvement of the integrated stack sealing structure, and the development of testing devices.

Shanxi Guorun Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. is the highest quoted unit in this bidding, with a total price of 3620.8 million yuan and a unit price of approximately 3.62 yuan/Wh.

Shanxi Guorun Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. was established in June 2020, engaged in the manufacturing of all vanadium flow battery equipment and the production of flow battery separator materials. Its core products are all vanadium flow energy storage battery products and perfluorinated ion membranes.

In August this year, Guorun Energy Storage completed an angel round financing of over 50 million yuan. The company stated that the fundraising amount will mainly be used for the construction of automated production lines for all vanadium liquid flow energy storage batteries, expansion of all fluorine ion membrane production lines, and team building.

At this point, CNNC Huineng Co., Ltd. has centralized procurement of energy storage systems for three sections of its new energy projects from 2022 to 2023 with a total energy storage capacity of 5.5 GWh, and all 16 candidate winning companies have been announced.

This procurement is a framework procurement that includes multiple specific projects. The centralized procurement is valid until December 31, 2023. After the implementation of the specific project, the tenderer will sign the project contract based on the detailed technical requirements of the project.