Energy storage application comprehensive introduction

According to the installation location of the energy storage system, we divide the energy storage application scenarios into three main types: power generation side, power grid side and user side. In 2022, energy storage industry develops quickly. This article will introduce various current energy storage application scenarios.

5G base station with energy storage

The first energy storage application is 5G base station with energy storage. Under the background of actively adapting to the new business requirements of 5G network and helping the transformation of energy structure, “lithium battery for communication energy storage and lithium battery intelligence” has become the trend of the times.

In terms of energy consumption, the peak power of a 5G base station is 3-4 times that of a 4G base station. The demand for power in this energy storage application has greatly increased. On the other hand, in the 2G, 3G and 4G era, the site power supply is mainly passive response, lacking active planning, which is easy to lead to resource waste.

Under the higher power demand, how to improve the system operation efficiency of 5G base station and reduce resource waste has become the focus of 5G construction. Therefore, the flexible, intelligent and efficient technical characteristics of the electrochemical energy storage system make it a suitable choice for the backup power supply of 5G base station.

Data center with energy storage project

The second energy storage application is data center with energy storage project. The energy storage system is connected to the data center, which can enhance the power supply reliability of the data center and prevent data loss caused by accidental power failure.

The energy storage system improves the economy of power operation in the data center, low carbon and energy conservation through peak shaving and valley filling, capacity allocation and other mechanisms. The second energy storage application can be discussed in two aspects.

Background power supply of data center

One aspect of the energy storage application to analyze is background power supply of data center. Traditional data centers need to use a large number of lead acid batteries as backup power, but the battery status is unknown.

In the energy storage data center, the battery will discharge every day, and the voltage after discharge is clear, which makes it easy to judge whether the battery is good or bad. This energy storage application helps to eliminate bad batteries in time, and saves the cost of annual fake load test.

Data center access to energy storage can save energy and generate revenue

Here is the second part to talk about the second energy storage application. Access to the energy storage system and arbitrage through the peak valley price difference of electricity charges. The data center is no longer a simple power load, but has callable and adjustable power nodes, and even participates in grid frequency modulation.

This flexible switching energy storage application is conducive to the optimal mode of power grid, data center and new energy power generation to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction. ‍

On January 28, 2021, the first “12 stations in one” comprehensive energy station in the Yangtze River Delta of China was put into operation in Wuxi. The whole station integrates 12 urban public facilities, including:

● Substation
● Energy storage station
● Distributed photovoltaic station
● Pre installed cold and hot supply station
● Smart street lamp
● Intelligent linkage unmanned patrol
● Data center machine room
● 5G micro station
● Electric vehicle charging station
● Electric vehicle power exchange station
● Power exchange e station
● Self-service washing station

Intercity rail transit with flywheel energy storage

Intercity rail transit with flywheel energy storage is the third energy storage application. This energy storage application scenario releases electric energy in case of no catenary or emergency to ensure normal operation.

The train can store electric energy through energy storage technology. The distance between urban rail transit stations is short, and trains are frequently started and braked, which consumes a lot of power during operation. The train will produce a considerable amount of energy in the braking process, which has recycling value.

According to statistics, the energy generated by rail transit train braking can reach about 20% – 40% of the energy consumption of traction system. If fully utilized, this energy storage application will significantly reduce the energy consumption of rail transit operation.

Flywheel energy storage belongs to physical energy storage. The magnetic suspension technology is adopted, and the flywheel rotor operates in a vacuum chamber without wind resistance. The flywheel energy storage device is installed in the rail transit traction substation.

When the train enters the station for braking, the flywheel absorbs energy and converts electric energy into kinetic energy, with the speed up to 20000 revolutions per minute; When the train accelerates out of the station, the flywheel releases energy, which converts kinetic energy into electric energy and releases energy for use by the train. This energy storage application has excellent energy-saving and voltage stabilizing effects.

Photovoltaic energy storage charging station

Photovoltaic energy storage charging station is the fourth energy storage application. In the era of high oil prices and rising oil prices, new energy vehicles have become the choice of many car owners. Today, with the vigorous development of new energy vehicles, the construction of charging infrastructure is also gradually accelerating.

This energy storage application is developing well now. As the energy supply facility to maintain the operation of new energy vehicles, the charging station of new energy vehicles can be called a proper outlet.

Under the background of carbon neutralization, the super charging station covering “photovoltaic+energy storage+charging” has attracted much attention. On the one hand, this energy storage application can help solve some power generation redundancy and grid connection problems in the application process of photovoltaic.

On the other hand, the energy storage application can play a combined advantage to drive the multi-directional development of photovoltaic, energy storage and charging piles.

Zero carbon smart park with energy storage

The next energy storage application is zero carbon smart park with energy storage. The factory park has a large area, and there are many equipment such as cabinets and machine rooms.

Therefore, the electrical appliances are characterized by large useful power, high load for a long time, and large energy consumption of equipment. In addition, the industrial park has a high price difference, which is suitable for peak valley arbitrage of energy storage projects.

In Xingzhou Industrial Park, Wuxi, China, there is a large energy storage power station with a power of 20 MW and a capacity of 160 MWh, ranking first among China’s commercial energy storage power stations. During the high temperature period in August, the discharge is almost once a day or two, and the demand response lasts for more than 10 days. About 600000 kilowatt hours of electricity was released in the whole August.

Hospital with energy storage standby power supply

Hospital with energy storage standby power supply is the sixth energy storage application. The hospital is a key unit of energy consumption, and the power consumption of one day under extreme high temperature in summer is equivalent to the total power consumption of 3000 normal families of four in one day.

The energy storage project can serve as a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) function to ensure that important loads of the hospital are not powered off. This energy storage application scenario provides a solid power guarantee for the smooth operation of the hospital.

On December 31, 2018, the first phase of the 0.75MW/1.8MWh energy storage project of China Fujian Magao’ai Memorial Hospital was successfully put into operation. This project is the first hospital system energy storage project in Fujian Province.

It can cut the peak and fill the valley of the power grid when the power grid is normal. It can quickly disconnect the power grid when the power grid is off, so as to ensure the power supply of important loads in the hospital.

Oil with energy storage

The seventh energy storage application is oil with energy storage. All major oil companies have deployed energy storage to help the country achieve the “dual carbon” goal while accelerating the energy transformation.

For the upstream field of oil and gas companies, the construction of new energy power generation+distribution and storage is the only way. The downstream refining and chemical companies+distribution and storage also have a promising application prospect.

It is understood that companies have to face the biggest challenges brought by renewable energy power generation – volatility and intermittency, whether they are building wind power or photovoltaic power generation.

How to obtain a continuous and stable clean power supply and ensure the normal production and life of the oil region 24 hours a day, the key is to allocate storage. Here are the top 10 energy storage battery companies.

Due to the field operation of the oil and gas testing team, the power is mainly supplied by the diesel generator, and there is no reliable fixed and continuous economic power supply. The use of the energy storage application of cost-effective lithium battery energy storage system can solve the problems of discontinuous power supply, battery neck, etc.

Energy storage with micro grid

Now it’s turn to the next energy storage application, that is, energy storage with micro grid. Microgrid, also known as distributed energy island system, systematically combines generators, loads, energy storage devices and control devices to form a single controllable unit, which simultaneously supplies power and heat to users.

This energy storage application is applicable to power consumption in remote areas, and some places that cannot be covered by large power grids, such as islands, remote mountain areas, etc.

The Sansha smart micro grid energy management system in the South China Sea is an application demonstration project in China’s power technology field, which has undergone three years of research and practice.

The main station of the system is set up in Yongxing Island, which can realize the collection and monitoring of various load data such as diesel generator, photovoltaic system, energy storage system, main sub microgrid, seawater desalination, charging pile, etc.

Since the trial operation of the system in 2017, the power supply reliability rate has been 100%, the voltage qualification rate has been 100%, and the clean energy consumption rate has been 100%. Hundreds of tons of diesel have been saved by using clean energy such as photovoltaic for more than a year.

Wind photovoltaic+energy storage

Wind photovoltaic+energy storage is the ninth energy storage application. On the power generation side, the proportion of new energy power generation distribution and storage has gradually increased, and some regions have forced energy distribution and storage, which has also opened up a development path for sharing energy storage and other modes.

Since 2021, a total of 24 provinces and regions in China have issued new energy allocation and storage policies, among which many places have put forward clear requirements for energy storage application of distributed photovoltaic supporting construction. Among these documents, Zaozhuang, Shandong, has the highest requirement for the storage capacity, which is to build energy storage for 15%~30% of the installed capacity and lasts for 2~4 hours.

Shared energy storage with power grid

Shared energy storage with power grid is the last energy storage application to introduce in this article. In the traditional power system, the power output curve is relatively stable, but the power consumption curve fluctuates many times in a day, making it difficult to match the supply and demand curve of the power system.

The energy storage at the grid side is connected to the transmission network or distribution network, which is uniformly dispatched by the grid company, and can independently participate in the regulation of the grid.

The grid peak shaving and energy storage system realizes peak shaving and frequency modulation through high storage and low discharge to ensure the stability of the grid. At the same time, it can also improve the transmission capacity of the power grid, alleviate congestion, and serve as emergency backup power supply for faults.