In order to speed up the construction of a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system and support the realization of the carbon peak and carbon neutrality goal, on April 21, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration issued the

Picture | Original article published in the "Focus" column of the April 2021 issue of "Environment and Life" magazine, Issue 158,

◎ Liu Guowei, the main author of this magazine,

In order to accelerate the construction of a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system, support the carbon reach The goal of peak carbon neutrality has been achieved. On April 21, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration publicly solicited opinions from the public on the "Guiding Opinions of the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration on Accelerating the Development of New Energy Storage (Draft for Comment)". Energy storage is an important supporting foundation and technical foundation for building a new power system with new energy as the main body. Its large-scale application trend has gradually emerged. At a time when multiple energy storage technologies coexist, different technical routes are used in different applications. Each has its own areas of expertise. This article will introduce you to some of the representative energy storage technology cases and projects in the world -

Technical maturity determines the application of energy storage technology

After hundreds of years of development, energy storage technology has now become a smart grid, renewable energy High-proportion energy systems, important components and key supporting technologies of energy Internet , are important means to improve the flexibility, economy and security of traditional power systems.

From a technical point of view, although many energy storage technologies are "feasible", whether it is the safety and energy density of the energy storage technology itself after large-scale, or the possibility of secondary disasters caused by energy storage configuration after a disaster occurs , the existing energy storage technologies are still not up to the level of undertaking ultra-large-scale energy strategic reserves.

Many foreign media believe that in the face of a cruel market environment and complex conflicts of interest, there are currently not many energy storage options that can simultaneously meet the three conditions of technological feasibility, investment availability and market attractiveness. The cost and development cycle of energy storage technology are particularly severe challenges for companies developing these energy storage technologies. Therefore, it is key to develop a business model that can utilize the technical advantages of electrical energy storage to obtain economic returns.

A reporter from " Environment and Life " magazine saw a report released around 2017, which compared and analyzed the technological maturity of 20 energy storage technologies. It has been almost 10 years since this material was released. , for your reference only.

This report believes that the only fully mature energy storage technologies are pumped hydropower stations (PHS) and lead-acid batteries , both of which have been serving mankind for about a hundred years; basically mature technologies include lithium batteries, compressed air energy storage , nickel-cadmium battery , sodium-sulfur battery, several flow batteries , superconducting magnetic energy, flywheel, capacitor , heat storage (cold) and other technologies, they have completed research and development and started commercialization ization, there is still a long way to go before large-scale popularization; technologies under research include fuel cells, metal-air batteries, and solar fuels. Although they lack commercial maturity in technology, they have passed research and demonstration by many scientific research institutions. Driven by energy costs and environmental concerns, their commercial potential cannot be ignored.

In the context of the dispute over energy storage technology and the Warring States Period , there is also a consensus among various countries that if intermittent new energy sources such as solar energy and wind energy want to compete with fossil energy, they must be combined with energy storage technology to maintain a sufficiently long period of time. opening hours. Next, let’s take a look at the real-life deployment and application of some of the energy storage technologies favored by the market.

Pumped storage is still the low-key king

As the most technologically mature option, pumped storage power stations may seem simple, but they are the largest and most widely used electric energy storage system in current energy storage technology and are used in energy management. , frequency control and backup power and other uses.

At the end of the 19th century, the first pumped storage power stations were put into use in Italy and Switzerland. In 1929, the first large-scale commercial pumped storage power station (Rocky River Pumped Storage Power Station) began operation in the United States, which shows its long history.According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Energy's "Global Energy Storage Database", as of 2020, the total installed capacity of pumped storage power stations around the world is as high as 181 gigawatts, and the stored electricity is as high as 1.6 billion kWh. China, Japan and the United States are far behind in terms of power generation. ahead of other countries.

Picture | Inside the factory building of the Bath County, Virginia, USA pumped storage power station with the largest installed capacity in the world

Currently, among the pumped storage power stations in operation in the world, the Bath County, Virginia, USA pumped storage power station with an installed capacity of 3,003 MW is still is the largest. However, its title of "world's largest power bank" will soon be lost to China's Hebei Fengning Pumped Storage Power Station (3,600 MW). The power station is located in Fengning Manchu Autonomous County, Hebei Province. Construction started in May 2013, and the reservoir under the power station was officially filled with water in November 2020. According to some data, it is expected that by 2030, the global pumped storage installed capacity is expected to increase by about 78 gigawatts, and the main growth rate is in China, with huge market potential.

Picture | The Prosper-Haenel coal mine in Germany is being transformed into a 200-MW pumped storage power station. This is the first coal mine in the world to be used as an energy storage facility.

Germany’s ambitious energy transition plan requires that the proportion of renewable energy will be significantly increased in the next 30 years (the mid-term target is 35% to 40% in 2025, and 55% to 60% in 2035. It will increase to 80% by 2050 ). In fact, in recent years, in many places in Germany, the power generated by solar and wind energy during the day has exceeded local electricity consumption. In order to store this excess electricity for use at night, Germany has made a lot of technical explorations. and research. However, due to the lack of terrain differences required for the construction of pumped storage power stations in many areas, the Germans took a different approach and came up with a unique solution, which effectively solved the shortcomings of long construction periods and huge one-time investments for pumped storage power stations. That is using coal mines as part of an energy storage facility.

Picture | Finnish power company Wartsila has built an energy storage system in California, USA. The combination of such energy storage systems and unstable renewable energy poses a great challenge to the existing power system based on fossil energy.

The Prosper-Haenel coal mine in North Rhine-Westphalia, near the border between Germany and the Netherlands, has been producing coal for nearly half a century. However, due to the national energy transition plan, the coal mine was closed in 2018. Fortunately, the coal mine's approximately 26 kilometers of shafts and millions of cubic meters of water storage provide convenience to technicians, who are converting it into a 200-megawatt pumped-storage hydropower station to recharge during periods of low power demand. The water is pumped up and then flows down to drive turbines to generate electricity during peak periods. This amount of electricity is enough to provide daily power for more than 400,000 households. Miners in local towns will not lose their jobs and can continue to shine in new positions. Germany has provided us with innovative ideas in utilizing more of the relics left over from the industrial revolution period and transforming them into industrial-scale energy storage facilities.

The dawn of gravity energy storage appears

If we expand our thinking about using mechanical energy to store energy, is it also feasible to replace running water with other heavy objects? Following this line of thinking, some organizations have indeed made ingenious attempts in this regard.

Picture | Gravity energy storage demonstration project built in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, in March this year. In Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, the start-up company "Gravitricity" has been engaged in the research and development of gravity energy storage devices for several years. It is a professional Dutch winch company Huisman undertook the manufacturing of key components.

The original design of the "Gravity Triple" is to use an up and down moving winch and counterweight (12,000 tons) in an abandoned mine to store and release energy, releasing huge energy in less than 1 second, providing a powerful solution for the domestic power grid. Support for smooth operation.After attracting the attention of the industry, Gravity Triplet raised more than £1.5 million through a crowdfunding campaign in 2020 and also received a £640,000 grant from Innovate UK, the UK government's innovation agency. The company has identified a number of potential installation sites in Europe and has even evaluated the ability to use previously abandoned gold mines for energy storage in South Africa.

In March this year, the "gravity triple" gravity energy storage demonstration device was unveiled at Edinburgh 's gravity energy storage demonstration device at Prince Albert Pier in Edinburgh. The 250-kilowatt demonstration unit consists of a 15-meter-tall iron tower, two 25-ton counterweights suspended by steel cables , and two grid-connected generator sets. "We calculated that we could go from zero to full power in less than a second - which is very valuable in the frequency response and backup power markets," said Francis Tierney, engineering project manager. A single counterweight will be tested first to verify smooth energy output over a longer period of time, while other testing procedures will be conducted to verify and improve the full functionality of the system. The Watt project provides valuable data. "

Lithium battery energy storage has received widespread attention.

Lithium battery is one of the electrochemical energy storage technologies with the best energy-to-mass ratio. It self-discharges very slowly when not in use, so it is within everyone's reach. is widely used in many consumer electronics products. In January 2019, the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted that wind energy, solar energy and other non-hydroelectric renewable energy sources will be the fastest growing part of the electricity mix in the next few years. Among the technologies for storing these energy sources, lithium batteries will eventually be used in Gaining a place on the grid: Lithium batteries are likely to be the dominant technology in the next five to 10 years, with continued technological improvements enabling batteries to store energy that can be used for four to eight hours - enough time to store electricity generated from the sun. to the evening to meet the peak hours of electricity consumption in the evening.

Picture | 2017 Istanbul Smart Grid,

However, upgrading the lithium batteries used in consumer electronics such as mobile phones into backup power sources for thousands of households requires both technical support and opportunities. The former is left to a wealthy American company like Tesla Creative companies, the latter emerged in Australia.

In the autumn of 2016, a storm caused widespread power outages in South Australia, Australia. During the peak power consumption period in the following summer, the local government implemented an intermittent power supply policy due to insufficient power, which was criticized. The South Australian government subsequently developed a new energy plan aimed at providing cleaner, more economical and more reliable energy to South Australia , and the local state government soon received 90 proposals.

Picture | In November 2017, the American Tesla Company built the world's largest lithium battery energy storage station in Australia.

At this time, the American Tesla Company came on the scene. Its plan was to build a large-scale lithium battery energy storage facility near the Horn Valley Wind Farm in South Australia to store renewable energy and relieve the pressure during peak power consumption in summer. The company’s boss, Musk, publicly announced in a high-profile manner that this large battery with an output power of 100 megawatts will be delivered within 100 days after signing the contract. If you break your promise, you'll get it for free. At that time, the output power of the world's second largest lithium battery energy storage device was only 30 megawatts. The world's largest battery of Tesla was indeed not an exaggeration. Tesla moved very quickly. When the power grid contract was signed on September 29, 2017, some battery packs were already in operation. It only took 63 days for the lithium power station to be completed at a cost of US$161 million.

Tesla’s large-scale lithium battery energy storage facility in South Australia has an output power and energy storage capacity of 100 MW and 129 MWh respectively. What is the concept of this number? Based on the average power demand in South Australia during the same period, a fully charged battery pack can approximately ensure that 6.7% of users in the entire South Australian system are powered for one hour.Therefore, this energy storage facility is not used as a backup power supply. Its main task is to quickly regulate frequency and absorb excess wind power . This can be obtained from the 70-MW 10-minute service contract signed between the operator and the government. See this.

As the saying goes, "It's a mule or a horse, pull it out and run around." The test occurred 14 days after the big battery was put into use. Early one morning in mid-December 2017, a unit at the Horn Valley Wind Farm tripped, causing wind power to drop sharply. The big battery responded quickly, injecting 7.3 megawatts into the grid over the next 28 seconds, effectively stabilizing the system. Then, Queensland's Gladstone Thermal Power Plant responded and came to the rescue.

It is reported that after the large battery is put into operation, it is estimated that the operator can earn about 18 million Australian dollars per year by selling the stored electricity when electricity prices rise. By the end of 2018, it is estimated that this system has saved the local area 40 million Australian dollars in power grid regulation costs. In 2019, the operator invested 53 million euros to expand the output power of the large battery to 150 megawatts. However, the title of "World's Largest Battery" was already won by the battery energy storage project in San Diego, California, in August 2020.

Tesla's large battery project in South Australia has received great response internationally, and more and more countries are exploring this technology direction. In October 2017, the National Development and Reform Commission also included 100-megawatt lithium-ion batteries among the key tasks listed in the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Development of Energy Storage Technology and Industry" (Fagai Energy [2017] No. 1701) The energy storage system is listed as one of the “test demonstrations of a number of energy storage technologies and equipment with industrialization potential”.

flow batteries are getting better

As a strong competitor of lithium batteries in the energy storage world, the active material of flow batteries is a liquid electrolyte solution with fluidity. Because a large amount of electrolyte solution can be stored externally and transported by pumps By reacting in the battery, the scale of the flow battery can be greatly increased compared to ordinary batteries. Its advantages also include high energy conversion efficiency, long cycle life, large storage capacity, free site selection, deep discharge, flexible system design, safety and environmental protection. , low maintenance costs, etc.

In recent years, the best-developed flow battery in the world is the all-vanadium redox flow battery, referred to as vanadium battery . As an energy storage power source, vanadium batteries are mainly used in power plants (power stations) for peak shaving to balance loads, large-scale photoelectric conversion, energy storage power sources for wind power generation, and as energy storage systems in remote areas, uninterruptible power supplies or emergency power supply systems.

Looking at the application of vanadium batteries alone, Australia is the early leader. In the early days, Australia's University of New South Wales carried out a lot of practical development work. In 1998, the university sold relevant intellectual property rights to Australian VRB Company. In 2001, VRB Company was acquired by Canadian VRB Power Systems Company.

Picture | At the end of 2015, Japan's Sumitomo Electric Industries Co., Ltd. deployed the world's largest flow battery energy storage system to date in Hokkaido, with a rated output power of 15 MW and a capacity of 60 MWh.

Japan’s Sumitomo Electric Company (SEI) is also an important developer and supplier of vanadium batteries. In 2005, Sumitomo Corporation established a 4-MW all-vanadium redox flow battery energy storage system in Tomamae Town, Hokkaido, Japan, to match the 36-MW wind power station and smooth the wind power output. This all-vanadium redox flow energy storage battery engineering demonstration system has a great influence internationally. According to Sumitomo Corporation, three years of application demonstration results show that flow energy storage battery technology is the most suitable energy storage technology for wind power peak shaving. At the end of 2015, Sumitomo made another move in Hokkaido, deploying the world's largest flow battery energy storage system to date, with a rated output power of 15 MW and a capacity of 60 MWh.

In November 2009, the U.S. government funded Ensville Electric Power Company to cooperate with the Ohio Power Administration to conduct a 1MW/8MWh liquid flow energy storage battery demonstration project in a 32MW coal-fired power plant. The project is the first megawatt-scale all-vanadium redox flow energy storage battery project in the United States.

European countries are also actively carrying out research and application demonstrations of flow battery technology. The Spanish REDES 2025 project, which develops smart grids, uses a 1MW/2MWh flow energy storage battery system. Germany's Fraunhofer Association for the Promotion of Applied Research (Europe's largest applied scientific research institution) has studied a 1-kilowatt to 10-kilowatt flow energy storage battery system for off-grid renewable energy power generation and energy storage. The 10 kW/100 kWh all-vanadium flow energy storage battery system developed by Austria's Sellström company is used in new energy electric vehicles.

my country began basic research work on liquid flow energy storage systems in the late 1980s. China University of Geosciences, Peking University , Northeastern University , Central South University , Tsinghua University , etc. have all carried out research work on all-vanadium redox flow energy storage batteries. Since 2002, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences has carried out systematic and in-depth research work on key materials, system integration, test methods, engineering development and application demonstration, etc., and built a 100 kW/200 kWh all-vanadium Flow energy storage battery demonstration system, and in 2010 developed the first domestic 260 kilowatt all-vanadium flow energy storage battery system.

In December 2020, the 220 kV transmission project of the Dalian flow battery energy storage peaking power station national demonstration project was officially launched. This project is located in Xigang District, Dalian City. It is the first large-scale chemical energy storage national demonstration project approved by the National Energy Administration. The construction scale reaches 200 MW/800 MWh. Construction started in November 2016 with a total investment of 3.8 billion yuan. . It adopts all-vanadium redox flow battery energy storage technology independently developed in China and with independent intellectual property rights. It is suitable for high-power and large-capacity energy storage. It has good safety, long cycle life, fast response speed, high energy conversion efficiency, and is green and environmentally friendly. Etc.

Compressed air energy storage makes a fuss in caves

In addition to the above-mentioned lithium battery energy storage technology, compressed air energy storage technology (CAES) is also internationally regarded as a basically mature energy storage technology option. Two large-scale compressed air energy storage power stations have been put into commercial operation in the world. The first utility-scale compressed air energy storage project was built in Hentof, Germany in 1978. Although Hentov's compressed air energy storage plant was originally developed for load balancing fossil fuel generation, the technology has spurred new interest as the world moves toward renewable, intermittent energy.

Picture | Hentof compressed air energy storage power station in Germany is the world's first utility-scale compressed air energy storage project, built in 1978.

The compressor of the Hentov compressed air energy storage unit has a power of 60 MW and a released energy output of 290 MW. The system stores compressed air in an abandoned mine cave 600 meters underground, with a total volume of 31 10,000 cubic meters, the compressed air pressure can reach up to 100Bar. Hentov's unit can continuously inflate for 8 hours and generate electricity for 2 hours. Data from the operation of the power station from 1979 to 1991 show that it was connected to the grid more than 5,000 times, with an average start-up reliability of 97.6%.

The second compressed air energy storage project put into commercial operation is the McIntosh compressed air energy storage power station in Alabama, USA, which is remotely and automatically controlled by the energy control center of the Alabama Power Company. The power station's underground gas storage cave is located 450 meters underground, with a total volume of 560,000 cubic meters and a compressed air storage pressure of 7.5 MPa. The compressor unit of the energy storage power station has a power of 50 MW and a power generation of 110 MW. It can achieve continuous 41 hours of air compression and 26 hours of power generation.

A large part of the geological form of the United States is layered salt and salt dome geology suitable for compressed air energy storage, which provides natural conditions for carrying out larger-scale compressed air energy storage technology projects.Norton, Ohio, USA began building a 2,700-megawatt large-scale compressed air energy storage commercial power station in 2001. The power station consists of nine 300-megawatt units. The compressed air is stored in an underground rock salt cave 670 meters underground. The cave volume is 9.57 million cubic meters. At present, in addition to Germany, the United States, Japan, and Switzerland, Russia, France, Italy, Luxembourg , South Africa, Israel, and South Korea are also actively developing compressed air energy storage power stations.

my country’s research and development of compressed air energy storage systems is relatively late, but with the rapid increase in demand for power energy storage, related research has gradually attracted the attention of some universities and scientific research institutions. Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , North China Electric Power University , Xi'an Jiaotong University , Huazhong University of Science and Technology and other units have carried out research on compressed air energy storage power stations, but most of them focus on theory and small-scale experiments. There are currently no compressed air energy storage power stations in commercial operation. However, among the key tasks listed in the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Development of Energy Storage Technology and Industry" (Development and Reform Energy [2017] No. 1701) of the National Development and Reform Commission in 2017, the 10 MW/100 MWh level has been exceeded. The critical compressed air energy storage system is listed as one of the "test demonstrations of a number of energy storage technologies and equipment with industrialization potential".

Molten salt thermal storage can output 30% more electricity

At the U.S. federal level, the revised version of the Better Energy Storage Technology Act (BEST) launched by the U.S. Energy and Natural Resources Committee consists of a series of energy storage bills, including 2019 The 2017 Promoting Grid Energy Storage Act, the Energy Storage Cost Reduction Act, the Joint Long-duration Energy Storage Act, etc., provide incentives for purchasing energy storage system processes and recycling energy storage system materials (such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and graphite). mechanism, as well as the rules and processes for recovering the deployment costs of energy storage systems developed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

At the state level, states leading the energy storage market are reviewing the feasibility of connecting energy storage equipment to the grid, considering energy storage systems as a key component of a strong future grid, and have clarity on the deployment of energy storage systems in the interconnection process. provisions to ensure flexibility and responsiveness. In terms of taxation, in order to encourage investment in green energy, the U.S. government has introduced an investment tax exemption policy, proposing that advanced energy storage technologies can apply for investment tax exemptions, which can be operated independently or integrated into microgrids and renewable energy power generation systems. Under these incentives, some states have made great strides in exploring and applying energy storage technology. The molten salt thermal storage device of the Solana Solar Power Station in Arizona is a typical case.

Picture｜The molten salt heat storage tank of the Solana Solar Power Station in Arizona, USA. With the help of the heat maintained by the molten salt, the power station can release electricity for 6 hours at night.

Solana means "sunny place" in Spanish. This name matches the weather conditions of the area where the power station is located. The company responsible for building the power station is the famous Spanish solar energy company Abenger. The power station is famous not only because it was the world's largest using trough solar technology when it was completed and put into operation in 2013 (it uses trough condensers to focus sunlight on a line, centrally heats tubular collectors, and then uses the power cycle of steam to generate electricity ) power station is also the first solar power station in the United States to use molten salt thermal storage technology for energy storage.

When the Solana Solar Power Plant is operating, sunlight is first concentrated on the central tower through a trough solar concentrator, and then the tower transfers heat to the molten salt in the tower. This molten salt outperforms thermal oil : the oil can only be used at temperatures up to about 400 degrees Celsius, but the molten salt remains stable up to 565 degrees Celsius. In this way, steam can be generated at a higher temperature, which can greatly improve the efficiency of the steam turbine . During the day, the molten salt is heated by the sun's heat in the central tower's absorber to 565 degrees Celsius and then flows into the storage tank, where it stays for several hours while maintaining a constant temperature.At night or when clouds cover the sun during the day, the molten salt will be pumped to the steam generator , where the heat of the molten salt is released to generate steam to drive the steam turbine to generate electricity, and then the molten salt cools down to complete the cycle.

From a technical point of view, the solidification and leakage of molten salt are its main risks. Once the temperature of the molten salt is lower than 228 degrees Celsius when it completes the cycle and returns to the central tower, it will solidify and block the pipeline, causing problems to normal operations. Huge risks endanger the profitability of enterprises, so molten salt heat storage technology has high requirements for temperature management technology and capabilities.

Solana Solar Power Station has been able to reduce emissions of 475,000 tons of carbon dioxide every year since its operation and provide power to 70,000 local households. This molten salt heat storage system has played an important role. According to calculations, this energy storage device can provide heat storage for the power station for 6 hours a day, allowing the power station to output 38% more rated power in a year. Such eye-catching performance has attracted widespread international attention. Our country also currently regards large-capacity new molten salt thermal storage devices as "energy storage technology with industrialization potential" and plans to carry out experimental demonstration work.

In April this year, many domestic media reported that the molten salt thermal storage industrialization promotion research and demonstration project invested and constructed in Fengtai District, Beijing, by the central heating company Beijing Thermal Power Group was actively advancing its construction. As the first molten salt energy storage steam supply project implemented in China, the project has been registered with the National Development and Reform Commission and received special financial support from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. It is constructed by Beijing Thermal Municipal Engineering Construction Co., Ltd. and uses Beijing Minli Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. A new molten salt energy storage steam system developed. It is reported that the project will build an 8MW molten salt energy storage device. It is mainly equipped with high/low temperature molten salt storage tanks, molten salt heating systems, steam generation systems, intelligent control systems and other equipment. After the system is completed, it will directly supply saturated steam to the Beijing West Railway Station area. This project has applied for green power subsidies, and after completion, the cost of a single ton of steam can be as low as 119 yuan/ton.

Energy storage rookie Carnot battery

In the past 10 years, the German government has been committed to promoting the transformation and reform of the country's energy system. To this end, the authorities have deployed a large number of electrochemical energy storage, heat storage, hydrogen production and fuel cell R&D and application demonstration projects, so that The development and application of energy storage technology has become one of the pillars of energy transformation. Carnot battery is one of the energy storage technologies that has received attention and is moving towards application.

Picture | A pumped hydro storage model in Kratzenbach, Hesse, Germany. Although a sparrow is small, it has all the internal organs.

Carnot batteries take their name from Carnot's theorem, which describes the efficiency of converting electrical energy into heat. As a relatively new renewable energy technology, thermal energy is stored in a specialized medium and converted into electricity when needed, making it one of the ideal solutions for renewable energy storage. Although the efficiency of Carnot batteries (40%~70%) is lower than that of pumped storage power stations (about 65%~80%), the advantages are that the operation process is environmentally friendly and low-cost, with a small environmental footprint and an expected lifespan of 20~30 years. , and the most prominent advantage is that parts of original fossil fuel power plants can be used to build batteries.

Because Germany stipulates that the final operating date of coal-fired power plants is 2038, coal-fired power plants with an installed capacity of 7 GW will be closed by 2023, and coal-fired power plants with an installed capacity of 23 GW will be closed by 2030. The cost of retrofitting coal-fired power plants is not expected to be too high as a large amount of existing infrastructure can be repurposed for Carnot battery storage, with permitting and grid connection measures already in place.

Picture | Old power generation facilities such as the Berlin Reuters Thermal Power Plant are a good place for Germany to test and promote Carnot battery technology.

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) has been working on Carnot batteries since 2014, with the main challenge being to make the salt storage and batteries suitable for coal-fired power plants.In September last year, the latest news was that a prototype of a Carnot battery energy storage device with a capacity of 1,000 MWh had begun. It was jointly constructed by the Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics (ITT) in Stuttgart under the German Aerospace Center and the European Renewable Compression Thermal Energy Storage Group. . The system, which uses simple and low-cost materials, is said to be more environmentally friendly than traditional batteries and can provide a stable power supply for cities the size of Stuttgart, , and effectively connect the heating and power supply sectors.

Although China's energy storage industry started late, its development speed in recent years has been impressive. According to Wood Mackenzie, an internationally renowned energy market research and consulting organization, China's energy storage deployment base will increase 25 times by 2024, with energy storage power and electricity storage reaching 12.5 GW and 32.1 GWh respectively, making it the largest in the Asia-Pacific region. energy storage market. The Chinese government's active policy incentives in the field of energy storage are the main reason for the rapid development of the industry and the main driving force for energy storage deployment. As China moves toward carbon neutrality and , it is undoubtedly of great significance to reasonably learn from the above-mentioned foreign cases to promote the development of energy storage technology and industry, and to support and promote the energy revolution.

(This article was written with reference to information from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fortune magazine, the Phoenix New Times, the British Independent, the German Aerospace Center, and the Australian Horn Valley Energy Storage Network. I would like to express my gratitude to all of them. ! )

This article is original from "Environment and Life" magazine