In 2019, the energy storage industry will move from demonstration to early commercialization, and three business models are worth paying attention to

All along, China's energy storage industry has been steadily advancing in a "two-step approach": the first step is to achieve the transition from research and development demonstration to the initial stage of commercialization of energy storage; The second step is to achieve a transition from initial commercialization to large-scale development.
In 2019, with the implementation of more energy storage projects, the energy storage industry will enter an important stage of commercialization from demonstration applications. At the same time, new models and markets are expected to be deeply explored. The spring of energy storage has arrived!
At present, the profit models for energy storage include peak valley electricity price arbitrage, auxiliary frequency regulation service fees, etc. In 2019, in addition to these two profit models, new profit models including distributed energy storage, centralized renewable energy storage, and grid side energy storage will also gradually mature.
The development of distributed energy storage is mainly based on distributed renewable energy, especially the rapid development of distributed photovoltaics.
The China Photovoltaic Industry Association released data in early 2019 stating that the development of distributed photovoltaics began to take off in 2017. In 2018, the annual installed capacity was about 20 gigawatts, which is already on par with the installed capacity of ground power stations. Due to the intermittency and high volatility of distributed renewable energy, the lack of energy storage will affect the stability of the distributed system, resulting in a rigid demand for energy storage.
The second mode is centralized renewable energy storage, which is expected to continue to increase.
With the large-scale integration of renewable energy into the power grid, a large number of wind and light abandonment problems have emerged in some areas, mainly due to the intermittency and instability of renewable energy, which is also known as non schedulability. Through energy storage technology, non schedulable "garbage electricity" can be transformed into schedulable "* electricity". Moreover, energy storage has an amplification or leverage effect on increasing the online electricity consumption of renewable energy. It is estimated that 1 megawatt of energy storage can increase the online electricity consumption of renewable energy by 2-3 megawatts or even more.
The third is grid side energy storage, which has rapidly developed in 2018 and is expected to be further expanded in 2019.
In this mode, peak shaving and valley filling can be achieved through grid side energy storage, achieving a better match between electricity and load in terms of time, space, and intensity, thereby reducing power system investment, enhancing the grid's ability to absorb renewable energy, and improving the security, economy, and efficiency of the grid. The development of grid side energy storage projects is mainly achieved by grid companies or public utility companies through the procurement of energy storage project solutions or services.
In 2019, energy storage costs are expected to continue to decline.
The decline is due to two reasons: firstly, the development of energy storage technology itself, and technological innovation will continue to promote the improvement of energy storage system performance, maturity, and scale, which will further reduce energy storage costs; The second is the development of the energy storage industry, which further improves the standardization, intelligence, and scale of the production process of energy storage products. Especially, the scale effect of industrial development will reduce the cost of energy storage products.
Secondly, from the perspective of global energy storage application hotspots, the participation of user side energy storage systems in demand response and the provision of auxiliary services for the power grid are two important channels for increasing energy storage revenue sources and promoting diversified business models.
In 2017, China had already granted third parties the right to use energy storage equipment and demand side resources to participate in the provision of electricity auxiliary services through policies. Relevant operating mechanisms and compensation prices are also being considered and piloted. In the future, the business model of user side energy storage is expected to gradually integrate with the grid side.
And for the energy storage industry cluster that many cities were building in 2018, it will continue to develop in 2019, with an accelerating trend in development speed.
Among them, two types of industrial clusters may have better development: one is to master core and key technologies, and achieve industrial clusters that coordinate the development of independent technology and industries; The second is an industrial cluster with a good industrial foundation, complete supporting infrastructure and industrial chain.
But the energy storage industry cluster will present both opportunities and challenges.
Opportunities mainly include three aspects. One is the development demand of the energy revolution, especially the large-scale development of renewable energy, which has a huge demand for energy storage; The second is the policy dividend brought by the reform of the national electricity system and electricity market; The third is the early accumulation of energy storage technology and industry, which has laid the foundation for rapid development and is approaching the critical point of industry explosion.
The challenges faced also come from various aspects. Firstly, the multiple values of energy storage have not been fully reflected in the current price system, and the price compensation mechanism for energy storage has not yet been established. The establishment of market-oriented trading mechanisms and price formation mechanisms for flexible resources such as energy storage still requires some time; Secondly, the energy storage technology itself still needs to be improved, especially in terms of mastering independent intellectual property rights and core key technologies. Some key energy storage technologies or components are not yet mastered. The cost and safety of energy storage products still need to be further improved.
In the coming year, the overseas energy storage market will also continue to develop rapidly. Firstly, mature overseas markets such as the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Australia will continue to develop steadily; The second is that emerging markets such as the UK, Ireland, and India have the potential for significant growth in energy storage. Chinese energy storage enterprises have strong competitiveness in the international market and will continue to play an important role in future overseas markets.