The role and status of energy storage in low-carbon energy systems

Energy storage is one of the important supporting technologies to achieve the "dual carbon" goal. The development and maturity of the energy storage industry is of great significance for accelerating the construction of a new energy-based power system. In recent years, with the support of a series of national policies, my country's energy storage industry (especially electrochemical energy storage) has developed rapidly, the cost has been declining, the industrial chain layout has been continuously improved, and it has entered the initial stage of commercialization. However, in addition to technology, cost, industry standards and other constraints, the current development of the energy storage industry also faces institutional constraints. For example, there is still a lack of institutional guarantees for the identity of independent energy storage market entities, a lack of market-oriented operation mechanisms that can reflect the value of energy storage, and a lack of overall coordination mechanisms for large-scale energy storage entering the power system.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, under the “dual-carbon” goal, the energy storage industry faces huge market development potential and more extensive application scenarios. The healthy and sustainable development of the energy storage industry urgently needs to strengthen top-level design and planning guidance, and accelerate the establishment and improvement of storage Energy technology application standard system, adhere to the principle of independent controllability of core technology and diversified routes, and promote the progress of energy storage technology. At the same time, deepen the reform of the power system, improve the design of the power market, and fully reflect the commodity of energy storage in the new power system Attributes are the key to the healthy development of the energy storage industry.

Energy storage is a technology that uses specific devices or physical media to store different forms of energy in different ways for later use when needed. At present, energy storage is mainly applied to the grid side (transmission and distribution), power supply side (new energy + energy storage application), user side, distributed and microgrid, and auxiliary services. On the grid side, energy storage is mainly used to ensure stable operation of the grid through peak shaving and participation in auxiliary services in the power market; on the power supply side, energy storage is mainly used to smooth the output of renewable energy, absorb excess power, reduce "abandonment of wind and energy" and instantaneous consolidation. In terms of distributed and micro-grid, energy storage is mainly used to stabilize the output of the system, as a backup power source and improve the flexibility of scheduling; on the user side, energy storage is mainly used for peak shaving and valley filling in industry and commerce, demand-side response and energy cost manage. From a technical perspective, energy storage technology is an effective technology to solve the volatility and intermittentness of new energy systems based on wind and light. The application of mature energy storage technology on the power generation side can smooth the active power fluctuations of wind and photovoltaic systems, thereby improving the power quality and stability of grid-connected wind power and photovoltaic systems, improving the intermittentness, volatility, and randomness of wind and solar, and improving economy. On the other hand, on the transmission and distribution side and on the user side, mature energy storage technology can effectively cut peaks and fill valleys, and can effectively help the grid to absorb renewable energy on a large scale and avoid "abandoning wind and abandoning solar energy." Phenomenon.

The future energy system will be a diversified energy system with new energy as the mainstay and multiple forms of energy. The volatility and intermittent nature of wind power and photovoltaic power generation determine that flexibility will be an indispensable part of the new energy system. From the perspective of technical attributes, energy storage can just meet the flexibility requirements of the new energy system. Therefore, large-scale access to renewable energy through energy storage technology, thereby promoting the technological path of energy low-carbon transformation, is highly expected by the industry. At the policy level, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration have also initiated the overall planning and deployment of energy storage development. In July 2021, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration issued the "Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Development of New Energy Storage". Compared with the previous February 25th "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Integration of Power Sources, Networks and Loads and Storage and Multi-energy Complementary Development" and April 19, "Notice on Matters Related to Wind Power and Photovoltaic Power Development and Construction in 2021 (Draft for Solicitation of Comments) )", the market position, business model and economic value of energy storage have gradually been recognized and clarified.

In recent years, many industry experts believe that energy storage technology is a key link in the development of new energy. Its technological breakthroughs will change the entire world energy pattern and realize the energy low-carbon revolution. They call for greater support for the energy storage industry in the early stages of energy storage development. Intensity. However, whether energy storage can become the last piece of the puzzle in the future energy system depends not only on technological breakthroughs, but also on the policy environment and market environment that support the research and development of various technologies for energy storage, as well as "calm" and prudent planning. In particular, electrochemical energy storage technology is very experimental and technological breakthroughs are uncertain. Too specific industrial policies will distort the market and lead to misallocation of resources, which is not only detrimental to the development of the energy storage industry, but also easy to overlook other energy transition technologies. Feasibility study of the route.

In the context of the transition to an energy system dominated by new energy, energy storage, as one of the many solutions to optimize the energy system, requires electricity that can reflect the value of energy storage on the power generation side, grid side, demand side, grid interconnection, etc. The market, through fair market competition to win market position, so as to occupy a place in the future energy system. Therefore, energy storage technology is one of the very important supporting technologies for building a new energy-based power system, and the development of the energy storage industry depends on the institutional environment and mature market mechanisms that support the commercial application of energy storage technology.