Difficult problems in the development process of energy storage stations

Integrated energy service is a new energy service mode that meets the diversified energy consumption of end customers. It is different from traditional single, supply-centric energy services. The construction of energy storage power station is characterized by composite diversification and energy station as the carrier, and strives to achieve supply and demand matching, multi-energy complementarity and cascade utilization of energy.

Energy storage services are becoming an important means for energy enterprises to upgrade and transform and develop new momentum. Various places have also set off a boom in the construction of energy stations. However, while booming, project construction and operation are facing many problems.

Development course and trend of energy

Integrated energy storage and construction have been developed earlier, with Europe being the first to propose the concept of systems. The United States is currently focusing on the development of an integrated energy supply system with distributed photovoltaic resources and smart grids at the core.

Japan, an Asian pioneer in integrated energy, is dedicated to researching and demonstrating smart community technology, integrating transportation, water supply, information, and medical systems based on community portable power stations.

China initially started with cogeneration district heating. However, with the increasing level of natural gas supply security and the acceleration of smart grid construction, services with natural gas distributed energy supply at the core are gradually developing.

China has issued relevant policies to promote the pilot construction of comprehensive energy reform, including smart energy, microgrid, energy conservation, and new energy storage. China’s major energy giants, energy-saving service companies, and Internet companies have laid out their plans in the energy field. The scale of the service market is expected to continue expanding.

Research indicates that the deep integration of information and energy technology, the in-depth institutional reform of the electric power, oil and gas energy industry, the continuous emergence of new application scenarios, and the continuous enrichment of business models will create a favorable environment for the comprehensive development of the comprehensive energy service industry.

Difficulties in the construction process

Despite considerable development prospects, some projects lack competitiveness and sufficient development momentum. The main reasons are as follows:

● Lack of planning

Currently, most energy storage power stations only supply air conditioning cooling and heat energy, and there is a significant gap between comprehensive supply of water, cold, heat, electricity, and gas energy envisaged earlier. Integration of various specialities is not yet high.

● Philosophical issue

Construction mainly follows traditional mechanical and electrical engineering design ideas, operation methods, and management strategies, resulting in systems that are difficult to transform into smart and efficient integrated energy service systems.

● Institutional issues

There are still challenges in the multi-energy supply market mechanism. Electricity generated by energy storage stations can only transmit to the utility grid or to be stored in the batteries, and it is challenging for the top 10 energy storage company to become real suppliers.

● Application scenarios

Application scenarios are relatively single, and there is a lack of effective scenarios for multi-functional applications. For instance, industrial parks are dominated by steam demand, while urban CBD buildings are dominated by air-conditioning loads, leading to a lack of comprehensive supply of multiple varieties of energy.

Markets that are less than expected

● Targeted feature

Energy systems represent critical infrastructure and are indispensable subsystems for the realization of complex urban functions. Additionally, they form a multi-network intersection and a multi-field integrated urban infrastructure system.

● Technical characteristics

The energy storage power station systems are highly complex, like photovoltaic power station. But the the comprehensive energy station equipped with a prime mover is the special. Such equipment is no different from a small thermal power station, as it involves electricity, gas, water, HVAC, and other specialties.

From a future development perspective, the source determines the energy use mode and energy quality in the region for a long time, hence requiring a foresight approach in terms of scale and technical routes. Traditional planning is often independent and does not consider the bigger picture of a large system.

Large construction and operation costs

The project is currently more customized construction. On the one hand, to meet the urban landscape requirements, the underground method is employed to supply energy to building complexes, resulting in higher construction costs of energy stations. On the other hand, the lack of scale effect has led to considerable equipment investment.

Since limited by the energy supply radius, the energy supply area of a single station is small, and investment cost per unit capacity and fuel consumption cost increase. Additionally, operating costs are also high. If energy stations without energy storage facilities fail to leverage peak-to-valley electricity prices, the natural gas costs become high.

Furthermore, some of the initial economic benefits were poor, leading to poor overall project income, making its economic benefits more of a dilemma than social benefits such as cascade utilization, peak shaving and valley filling of power loads, and promoting regional clean and low-carbon development. Therefore, supporting distributed photovoltaic supply needs to start from numerous aspects to improve economic benefits.

How to break the current situation

● Reducing initial investment costs

According to surveys, civil engineering accounts for a relatively significant proportion of investment. As a result, land fees related to the construction entity should be reduced or absorbed in the energy supply price where the construction entity acquires land in a market-oriented manner.

● Creating a stable and orderly market environment

Starting from meeting regional dual carbon goal requirements, new users should be added. Within the scope of distributed photovoltaics, top 10 solar battery manufacturers ensure the access of users within the scope of energy supply services. Provide certain subsidies to existing users and encourage them to actively access the integrated energy system.

● Breaking through existing energy systems

Continually promoting the power system reform and distributed generation marketization to improve distributed system benefits. Encouraging active microgrid and distributed power source construction in incremental distribution networks to increase user-side revenue and improve system reliability. Accelerate the reform of the natural gas system and effectively reduce natural gas costs.