China rapidly expanding battery storage. Use rates low. Economics marginal
Reuters reports “Filled with batteries, they form a 795 megawatt (MW) plant that can hold up to 1 million kilowatt-hours of electricity - enough to power 150,000 households for a day, making it China’s largest such storage facility when it was connected to the grid last Saturday.”
“Most of the players in this sector are trying to figure out how to make money”
“according to Carbon Brief, [China has] by far the world’s largest storage fleet at 35.3 GW as of March.”
“Energy storage at renewables plants operated just 2.18 hours a day last year, while independent facilities operated only 2.61 hours per day, according to the China Electricity Council. By comparison, storage at industrial and commercial plants operated 14.25 hours per day.”
This seems to imply that battery storage is used while they fire up their fossil fuel plants to meet the need.
Pumped hydro storage is still most reliable but requires time and space to build.
“The vast new Shandong plant incorporates both lithium ion and vanadium redox flow batteries, according to a report by local state media. Vanadium is a newer technology that promises longer storage times and improved safety.”
“Emerging technologies such as thermal energy storage, redox flow batteries, and sodium ion batteries have shown promise for longer-duration storage but have higher up-front costs, with technology and supply chains that are less mature.”
Fires in lithium batteries are still a concern.