How can energy storage products become more competitive?

Improve the quality of energy storage cells

The battery cell is the cornerstone of the energy storage system. The requirements for system performance are reflected at the cell level, that is, the high-quality requirements for the cells.

In terms of scale, it is not uncommon to see hundreds of MWh-level energy storage power stations, and even move towards GWh.

With the continuous increase of single projects, the number of batteries required by a single power station is also increasing. Obviously, this also puts forward higher requirements for the consistency, quality, safety, and cycle life of the batteries.

The market has a high demand for high-quality energy storage batteries. On the one hand, the improvement of the performance of the energy storage cell reduces the life cycle cost of the energy storage system.

On the other hand, the product quality of energy storage cells ensures the stable operation of the energy storage system throughout its life cycle, laying the foundation for the value release of the entire life cycle of the energy storage system.

Batteries are one of the key technologies, and the quality of their products will directly affect the final revenue of the energy storage system.

Whether the quality of batteries is consistent depends on the manufacturing level of the company. Therefore, improving the quality of energy storage cells is the primary condition for increasing the competitiveness of energy storage products.

Pay attention to the technological level of cell manufacturing

From the perspective of battery cell manufacturing, with the support of advanced equipment supply and mature production process, the control of production line process level by lithium battery manufacturers is the core to widen the gap in manufacturing strength.

Batteries are a continuous production process, which involves many procedures and complex processes. It requires the cooperation of hundreds of devices.

After repeated verification of tens of thousands of process parameters, the deviation of each process link can be controlled to the minimum and the product can be improved.

Consider the energy storage battery production line of the winding square shell process as an example of process flow.

Homogenization, coating, roll separation, die-cutting and winding, assembly, chemical formulation, and testing are all completely automated processes in today’s industry standard production line.The stirring link is the first process to enter the battery production. The active material needs to be stirred into a slurry by a vacuum mixer.

The quality control of raw material ratio, mixing steps, and stirring time directly affects the quality of the battery and the pass rate of the finished product.

In the coating process, the uniformly stirred slurry is evenly coated on thin copper foil and aluminum foil. The thickness and weight need to be highly consistent, otherwise it will directly affect the consistency of the battery.

Laser die-cutting link. The size slitting of the pole pieces and the slitting of the conductive lugs of the positive and negative electrodes all need to fully control the burrs that can only be seen clearly under a microscope. In this way, the burrs can be avoided from piercing the diaphragm and causing serious safety hazards.

The entire factory needs to be operated and managed under the quality control system of top car companies based on car specifications. Only in this way can the high demanded level of production quality be achieved.

Focus on technological innovation

Technology is the core of energy storage products, so technological innovation is crucial. Energy storage companies need continuous R&D and innovation to improve product efficiency and performance. Specifically the following aspects:

• Low cost, long cycle life, good performance in all aspects of the battery.
• Improvement of system integration. The integrated energy and volume density of energy storage systems are constantly increasing. Every time the volumetric energy density is doubled, the cost of system integration will drop by 30% to 40%.
• Optimization of energy storage system thermal management and fire safety. In the case where high-voltage battery packs also occupy most of the energy storage market, the update and iteration of battery pack cooling technology cannot be ignored.
• Management and control capabilities and power electronics capabilities. Under the premise that the capacity of a single battery dedicated to energy storage is getting larger and larger, the value of more refined management of the energy storage system has already emerged.

Explore more possibilities for energy storage power trading

The essence of energy storage is transactions, and transactions involve risks, and the key is to use risks to earn value. Extensive participation in electricity market transactions is also an effective way for energy storage products to make profits and test their competitiveness.

At the same time, market transactions mean that energy storage will face more risks brought about by uncertainty and volatility.

Once energy storage products widely participate in the power market and are frequently dispatched, whether they can truly withstand the test will become the biggest challenge for energy storage companies.

The industrial chain of energy storage extends from materials and manufacturing to power system transactions, and its complexity has far exceeded that of most industries.

In the face of future market competition, the test of energy storage companies will no longer be limited to the hard power of products from the battery cell to the system level.

What’s more, there is an in-depth understanding of the source, network and load of the power system, as well as the soft power to participate in the power trading market and make profits through software algorithms.

Only companies that create integrated energy storage solutions for the future market and create more benefits in the entire life cycle of the energy storage system can become real winners in the fierce and ever-changing competition.