Industrial and Commercial Energy Storage Application Scenarios
(1) Separate energy storage: It can save electricity costs for enterprises by shaving peak loads or be used as a backup power source. It is mainly used in factories, shopping malls, etc.
(2) Integrated photovoltaic storage and charging: Build a photovoltaic storage and charging integrated power station on limited land, use photovoltaic power on the roof and parking canopy, and configure the energy storage system to achieve “self-generation and self-use, surplus power storage”, effectively alleviating the impact of charging pile load on the power grid.
(3) Microgrid + energy storage: Microgrid is regarded as a controllable unit in the power grid. It responds within seconds to meet the needs of the external transmission and distribution network and can meet the energy needs of a power load concentration area, such as islands, remote suburban residential areas and industrial parks. If a microgrid is established in a place where the load is concentrated and an energy storage system is used to store electricity, when a short-term power outage occurs, the energy storage system can supply power to the load stably. For off-grid microgrids, energy storage can smooth the generation of new energy and be used as a backup power source; for grid-connected microgrids, the main function of energy storage is to achieve energy optimization and energy conservation and emission reduction.
Industrial and Commercial Energy Storage Market Structure
(1) There are many participating companies, but the competition landscape has not yet been fully opened. At present, large-scale industrial and commercial energy storage companies include Age Xingyun Tech., AlphaESS, CubEnergy, JD Energy, etc., and emerging industrial and commercial companies include Elecod, Opess, RCT Power, etc. The current competitive barriers of various companies are not obvious.
(2) The shipment scale is generally small. Except for a few companies that promote the market in a leasing model, the annual shipment scale of most companies does not exceed 200 units; the shipment scale of the first batch of companies entering the market is mostly between 100-200 units; most of the new industrial and commercial energy storage companies in 2022 are still in the stage of product design, team building and brand promotion, and no products have really entered the market.
(3) The capacity of mainstream products is about 200kWh. The capacity of mainstream domestic industrial and commercial energy storage products is 170-220kWh, and it is equipped with a power configuration of 70-110kW, forming a full charge and discharge energy storage time of 2 hours. The capacity design is similar to SmartPropel Energy’s Powerwall product. Some companies mainly promote 1000kWh products, targeting industrial parks and other customers. However, most of the industrial and commercial energy storage exported overseas are 300+kWh products.
Industrial and Commercial Energy Storage Market Size
(1) User-side energy storage projects account for 10% of the projects connected to the grid in 2022. From the application field of the projects connected to the grid in 2022, renewable energy storage projects and independent energy storage projects account for 45% and 44% respectively; the capacity scale of user-side (household + industrial and commercial) energy storage projects has increased significantly to 10%, including 3 10-hour lead-carbon energy storage projects.
(2) The scale of user-side energy storage has reached GW level. According to the data of Zhongguancun Energy Storage Industry Technology Alliance, the total scale of China’s new energy storage grid-connected projects in 2021 is 2.4GW/4.9GWh; according to statistics from the energy storage and power market, the scale will reach 7.762GW/16.428GWh in 2022, with a capacity scale of +235% year-on-year. Among them, the capacity of grid-connected user-side energy storage projects accounts for 10%, with a scale of 1.64GWh.
Industrial and Commercial Energy Storage VS Large-Scale Energy Storage
(1) Industrial and commercial energy storage is mostly built in an integrated cabinet. With the increase in large industrial users, the capacity of industrial and commercial energy storage can reach above MW level, and the system configuration is basically the same as that of energy storage power stations.
(2) Industrial and commercial energy storage has a relatively small capacity and relatively simple system functions. Industrial and commercial energy storage has lower requirements for system control than energy storage power stations, and some PCS products also have BMS functions. In terms of EMS, industrial and commercial energy storage only needs to set the charging and discharging time to complete energy management, and the functional requirements are also lower than those of energy storage power stations.
Commercial and Industrial Energy Storage VS Large-Scale Energy Storage: Battery
(1) Industrial and commercial energy storage uses energy-type batteries. Industrial and commercial energy storage has relatively low requirements for response time. Considering factors such as cost, cycle life, and response time, energy-type batteries are used.
(2) Energy storage power stations use power-type batteries for frequency modulation. Similar to industrial and commercial energy storage, energy storage power stations mostly use energy-type batteries. However, because they need to provide power auxiliary services, the frequency modulation power station energy storage battery system has higher requirements for cycle life and response time. Batteries used for frequency modulation and emergency backup need to be power-type. The power station battery systems launched by CATL, SmartPropel Energy, etc. have a cycle number of about 8,000 times, which is higher than ordinary energy-type batteries.
Commercial and Industrial Energy Storage VS Large-Scale Energy Storage: BMS
(1) Industrial and commercial energy storage battery systems can provide overcharge, over-discharge, overcurrent, overtemperature, undertemperature, short circuit and current limiting protection functions for battery groups. Industrial and commercial energy storage battery systems can also provide voltage balancing during the charging process, and can perform parameter configuration and data monitoring through background software, communicate with various types of PCS, and jointly manage the energy storage system intelligently.
(2) Energy storage power stations manage batteries in a hierarchical and unified manner, and the structure is more complex. The energy storage power station calculates and analyzes various parameters and operating conditions of the battery according to the characteristics of each layer and level, and realizes effective management such as balancing, alarm, and protection, so that each group of batteries can achieve equal output, ensuring that the system achieves the best operating state and the longest operating time; providing accurate and effective battery management information, through battery balancing management can greatly improve the battery energy utilization efficiency and optimize load characteristics. At the same time, it can maximize the battery life and ensure the stability, safety and reliability of the energy storage system.
Commercial and Industrial Energy Storage VS Large-Scale Energy Storage: PCS
(1) The functions of industrial and commercial energy storage PCS are relatively simple and more adaptable. Industrial and commercial energy storage inverters are based on bidirectional conversion, are compact, can be flexibly expanded according to their own needs, and are easier to integrate with battery systems; they have an ultra-wide voltage range of 150-750V, which can meet the series and parallel requirements of various batteries such as lead-acid batteries, lithium batteries, and LEP; they are unidirectionally charged and discharged, and are compatible with various types of photovoltaic inverters.
(2) The energy storage power station PCS has the function of grid support. The DC side voltage of the energy storage power station converter is wider, and it can operate at full load at 1500V. In addition to the basic functions of the converter, it also has the function of grid support, such as primary frequency modulation, source-grid-load rapid dispatching, etc. It has strong grid adaptability and can achieve rapid power response (<30ms).
Commercial and Industrial Energy Storage VS Large-Scale Energy Storage: EMS
(1) The functions of industrial and commercial energy storage EMS systems are relatively basic. Most industrial and commercial energy storage system EMS do not need to accept grid dispatch, but only need to do local energy management: they need to support energy storage system battery balancing management, ensure operational safety, support millisecond-level rapid response, and realize energy storage subsystem equipment integrated management and centralized control.
(2) Energy storage power station EMS system requirements are higher. Energy storage power stations need to accept grid dispatch, and have higher requirements for EMS systems. In addition to basic energy management functions, they also need to provide grid dispatch interfaces and energy management functions for microgrid systems. They need to support multiple communication protocols, have standard power dispatch interfaces, be able to manage and monitor energy in applications such as energy transfer, microgrids, and power frequency modulation, and support monitoring of multiple energy complementary systems such as sources, networks, loads, and storage.
