Energy storage industry will see more policies. Xiu Binglin, vice director of energy conservation and technological equipment department of National Energy Administration (NEA), disclosed at Energy Storage Conference and Expo 2017 on May 23 that the NEA has finished soliciting opinions on Guidance on Promoting Energy Storage Technology and Industry Development (hereinafter to be referred as Guidance), which is China’s first comprehensive policy specific to energy storage. The NEA is now revising and improving the guidance and strives to release it as soon as possible.
It is introduced that as a forward-looking technology advancing development of new energy industry in the future, China’s energy storage technology has boasted foundation for industrialization. Beefing up development of energy storage technology and industry is of great strategic significance to build a modern energy industrial system with clean and low carbon, safety and high efficiency, push forward supply-side reform in China’s energy industry and promote revolution in energy production and utilization.
The NEA issued Guidance on Promoting Energy Storage Technology and Industry Development (Exposure Draft) in March, which clearly specified strategic positioning of China’s energy industry for the first time, put forward development target of energy storage field and stressed five tasks of energy storage in next ten years.
Industry insiders believe that as the exposure draft clarified the strategic positioning of energy storage for the first time, which underlined its importance again, it is foreseeable that corresponding policies will be launched in the future. Seen from the development target and task of energy storage field, the industry is still under demonstration period and commercialization remains to be accelerated.
The Guidance will play a positive role in creating a good policy environment, guiding social capital investment, instructing demonstration of technological research and development and boosting development of commercial model, Xiu introduced.
“The NEA will continue to launch supporting measures, conduct pilot demonstration, improve standardized system and build industrial information platform so as to support development of energy storage industry,” said Xiu.
China’s energy storage technology and industry sees rapid development in recent years. According to White Paper on Energy Storage Industrial Research, which was released by China Energy Storage Alliance (CNESA), by the end of last year, scale of installed capacity of China’s energy storage projects reached 24.3GW, up by 4.7 percent year on year. Specifically, total scale of installed capacity of lithium ion battery accounted for the highest proportion with 59 percent, up by 78 percent year on year. Heat accumulation via fuse salt is less applied in China. There was only one heat accumulation project via fuse salt with capacity of 10MW put into operation in Qinghai, and it was also the third large-scale solar-thermal power station with heat storage via fuse salt in the world.
In the opinion of Zhang Jing, secretary general of CNESA, development of energy storage industry has five features. First of all, project scale is expanded, technical route is centralized and it is applied in multi-fields. Secondly, profitability and replicability are highlights. Thirdly, market development and construction of market mechanism and price mechanism are promoted mutually. Fourthly, financial capitals at home and abroad join in technological research & development and financing of project. Lastly, work about regulation and standard of energy storage technology and project has been started.
In terms of application market of energy storage, Zhang predicted that large energy storage peaking system, which is an important means of strengthening power generation of renewable energy sources and peaking capacity of power system, will see development; along with reform of power distribution and sales and energy network development opportunity, conducting comprehensive energy service with energy storage as core becomes important trend of energy storage development; and dispersing application and management of energy storage of battery resource (data center, communication base station, rail transit and electric vehicle) and associating with regulating function of power market is also a trend.
Translated by Vanessa Chen
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