Major applications scenarios of industrial and commercial energy storage
Industrial and commercial energy storage system structure
Both industrial and commercial energy storage systems and energy storage power station systems include battery systems + BMS, PCS, EMS, transformers, racks, connecting cables, confluence cabinets, lightning protection and grounding systems, monitoring and alarm system, etc., the system is designed in a modular manner, and the system voltage and capacity can be flexibly configured.
Industrial and commercial energy storage business model
The profit model of industrial and commercial energy storage is peak-valley arbitrage, that is, charging at low electricity prices during low electricity consumption, and discharging to supply industrial and commercial users during peak electricity consumption. Users can save electricity costs and avoid the risk of power cuts.
With the improvement of time-of-use electricity price, the difference between peak and valley electricity prices has widened, and the economics of industrial and commercial energy storage have been significantly improved. At present, there are two main business models for the operation of industrial and commercial energy storage in China.
First, industrial and commercial users install energy storage equipment by themselves, which can directly reduce electricity costs, but users need to bear the initial investment cost and annual equipment maintenance costs. The other is that energy service companies assist users in installing energy storage. Energy service companies invest in the construction of energy storage assets and are responsible for operation and maintenance. Industrial and commercial users pay energy service companies for electricity costs.
At the same time, user-side energy storage has achieved multi-scenario expansion, and many application scenarios have appeared, such as charging stations, battery swapping station, data centers, 5G base stations, port shore power, and battery replacement for heavy trucks.
Three major applications scenarios
Factories and shopping malls
The development of industrial and commercial energy storage in China initially started from factories and shopping malls. Most factories in China are labor-intensive industries with obvious electricity consumption habits. Therefore, energy storage can cut peaks and fill valleys and demand management to reduce electricity costs.
Similarly, as a public place, shopping malls have the same habit of using electricity, and there are some important and emergency loads in shopping malls, and energy storage can be installed as a backup power supply like UPS lithium battery.
Photovoltaic storage charging station
In recent years, with the continuous popularization of electric vehicles, users’ demand for charging has continued to increase, and the demand for charging power and the number of charging piles has continued to increase. The solar-storage charging station is the best solution at this stage.
By combining photovoltaics and energy storage, the energy of the charging station can be supplied by photovoltaics, and the self-generation and self-use rate of photovoltaics can be improved.
At the same time, the power impact of high-power charging piles can be stabilized through the energy storage system, reducing the impact on the power grid and reducing the pressure on the distribution area.
Micro grid with energy storage
As the development direction of the future power grid, the microgrid can operate both on-grid and off-grid, which increases the flexibility and reliability of power supply. Microgrid projects at this stage are mostly industrial park microgrids, island microgrids, and remote area microgrids. In a microgrid scenario, there are usually multiple energy supplies such as photovoltaics, diesel generators, and wind turbines, and energy storage, as an intermediate coordination, needs to stabilize the balance between power supply and load demand.
For island microgrids or remote area microgrids, due to the lack or instability of their power supply, through the configuration of energy storage, functions such as stable new energy power generation and backup power can be achieved. This application scenario is more common overseas, especially in South Africa, Southeast Asia and other regions.
The industrial park micro-grid usually uses an industrial park as a node to achieve energy optimization, energy saving and emission reduction within the node. Increase the proportion of green electricity, optimize the energy cost of the park, and meet the assessment indicators of carbon emissions. Such scenarios are rapidly increasing in number worldwide.
Summarize
Industrial and commercial energy storage is rich in application scenarios. Combined with different application scenarios, there are multiple profit models. It has a good return on investment for owners and users, and its global development is gradually accelerating. More and more players are deploying and participating in the competition. The overall market trend is good, and capital attention is high.