With the continuous improvement of the installed scale and utilization rate of clean energy, the volatility and intermittency of new energy technologies are becoming increasingly prominent, resulting in problems such as difficulty in power consumption, external transmission, and peak shaving, seriously constraining the sustainable development of the industry. As an effective means to solve these problems, new energy storage system technology is increasingly favored by many countries due to its load-bearing capacity and regulating capacity.
Currently, in order to build a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system, some countries are accelerating the transformation of the energy storage system industry from research and development demonstration to commercialization, and have made positive progress in technology and equipment research and development, demonstration project construction, business model exploration, and policy system construction. Energy storage system technology provides important support for building new power systems, promoting energy revolution, and achieving carbon neutrality goals. New energy storage technologies, including new lithium-ion batteries, compressed air, hydrogen (ammonia) energy storage, and thermal (cold) energy storage, are injecting momentum into green development.
UAE – Accelerate the construction of various energy storage system facilities
The city of Masdar in the United Arab Emirates recently announced the launch of a thermal energy storage power project, which uses recycled aluminum alloy phase change material heat storage technology to store energy in the form of heat in metal alloys made of recycled aluminum and silicon, and uses generators to convert it into electricity, providing on-demand electricity and available heat at any time of the day.
Abdullah Barala, the head of Masdar City, stated that the heat storage system using recycled aluminum alloy phase change materials in this project has excellent performance, bringing technological breakthroughs to the market, which is conducive to improving the battery storage capacity of renewable energy and promoting energy transformation.
As a major global oil producer, the United Arab Emirates attaches great importance to promoting sustainable energy development. According to the UAE’s 2050 Energy Strategy, the proportion of clean energy in the UAE’s energy structure will increase to 50% by 2050. In October 2021, the United Arab Emirates announced the “2050 Zero Emissions Strategy Initiative”, which plans to invest over 600 billion dirhams (approximately $164.4 billion) in the renewable energy sector, aiming to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. As a result, the United Arab Emirates became the first Middle Eastern oil producing country to propose a net zero emission strategy.
In order to achieve the net zero emission target, the United Arab Emirates actively develops renewable energy and promotes the development of various new energy storage system facilities. Energy storage system technology can effectively solve the problems of insufficient stability of new energy generation and resource waste and low returns caused by different peak electricity consumption, providing strong support for the large-scale development of renewable energy.
The 700 MW solar thermal power generation project at Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai, United Arab Emirates is currently the world’s largest installed capacity, largest investment scale, and largest heat storage project for molten salt tanks. The project adopts the world’s leading “tower+trough” centralized photothermal power generation technology, which utilizes molten salt to store a large amount of heat generated during the day when sunlight is abundant, and provides electricity at night or on cloudy days, achieving 24-hour continuous and stable conversion of solar energy into electricity.
In addition, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority has partnered with the 2020 Dubai World Expo and Siemens Energy Limited to launch a green hydrogen project that utilizes solar energy to achieve the production, storage, and re generation of green hydrogen. This is the first solar powered green hydrogen energy storage system facility in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Germany – Promoting the popularization of household energy storage systems
In Germany, whether in urban or rural areas, photovoltaic panels can be seen everywhere on the roofs and exterior walls of buildings. In the basement of these buildings, there is often a device the size of a refrigerator – a household battery energy storage system. The installed capacity of such systems is generally below 10 kilowatts, which can meet most of the electricity needs of ordinary households.
A complete set of household solar and energy storage systems typically costs tens of thousands of euros. Despite the high price, many German households are still willing to pay for it, hoping to reduce the pressure of rising electricity prices and contribute to environmental protection and green energy popularization by building their own energy storage systems.
A report from the Technical University of Munich in Germany points out that due to the intermittent nature of solar energy, excess energy must be stored during production to compensate for fluctuations caused by weather and other factors. In recent years, the number of patent applications for electrochemical energy storage technology in Germany has sharply increased, with most of them based on lithium battery energy storage technology.
Since the beginning of this century, the renewable energy industry in Germany has grown rapidly, with the proportion of new energy generation represented by wind and solar energy increasing from 3% to about 45% of total electricity generation. The average utilization rate of wind and solar energy in Germany is 97%, which is at a global leading level, thanks to Germany’s sound energy storage network construction.
To encourage the public to install energy storage equipment, the German government has introduced a series of support measures, including providing up to 30% loan subsidies, and using energy storage equipment costs to offset personal income tax. Sonnen, the largest manufacturer of household energy storage systems in Germany, has developed a technology for electric vehicle users: users using the company’s charging stations can share the electricity generated by their photovoltaic panels with other members within a certain range, equivalent to connecting the power generation device, charging station, and electric vehicle battery into a virtual giant energy storage system. By consuming surplus green electricity from each other, users not only maintain the stability of the power grid, but also bring profits.
According to the latest data from the German Energy Storage Association, more than 300000 households in Germany have installed battery energy storage systems, with an average installed capacity of approximately 8.5 kilowatts. As of the end of 2020, nearly 70% of household solar power generation devices in Germany were equipped with battery energy storage facilities, and the installed capacity of German household energy storage systems was approximately 2.3 gigawatts.
Japan – Focusing on the Development of Hydrogen Energy Storage Systems
Last May, the zero emission office building of Japanese construction company Shimizu Construction Company was completed in Kanazawa City, Japan. The office building adopts solar power generation and hydrogen energy storage system, among which the hydrogen energy storage system uses the iron titanium alloy hydrogen storage tank developed by the company. By using this power generation and energy storage system, the office building has been certified by the Japanese government’s ZEB (Net Zero Emission Energy Efficiency Building) standard for green buildings, which means that the annual net consumption of disposable energy is zero or negative, achieving self-sufficiency in building energy.
The company’s researcher, Hideki Shibata, stated that the research and development process of iron titanium hydrogen storage alloys focused on their safety, and it was only after countless experiments that the current composition ratio with flame resistance characteristics was determined. At the same time, the alloy can absorb and store 1000 times its own volume of hydrogen gas, and one alloy hydrogen storage tank is equivalent to 1000 atmospheric pressure high-pressure hydrogen storage tanks of the same volume. Iron titanium alloy hydrogen storage tanks have the characteristics of safety, economy, and high density, making them suitable for large-scale commercial use.
The roof of the office building is also equipped with a solar power generation equipment with an installed capacity of 140 kilowatts, which is used to prepare hydrogen when there is surplus electricity. The hydrogen gas produced is stored in an iron titanium alloy hydrogen storage tank. When solar power generation is insufficient, the hydrogen storage tank releases hydrogen gas for combustion and power generation. The electricity produced by multiple sets of hydrogen storage tanks installed underground in the office building can meet the electricity demand of the building.
In recent years, the domestic hydrogen energy industry chain in Japan has been continuously expanding, and hydrogen energy storage has gradually shifted from laboratory research to commercial application. The Japanese government aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and make renewable energy the main source of electricity in Japan. According to the Japanese government’s Sixth Energy Basic Plan, the proportion of renewable energy generation will increase from the current 19.8% to 36% -38% by 2030, with the development of hydrogen energy storage systems being the top priority.
Japan’s Nihon Industrial News reported that the price of the “hydrogen energy storage system” jointly developed by Aichi Enoya and the University of Tokyo has been reduced to half of the price of similar products on the market. Professor Masahiro Sugiyama from the University of Tokyo, who participated in the research and development, stated that the system converts solar power into hydrogen energy and stores it for a low cost and long time. It is completely feasible to store and use solar energy in summer and winter, and the market potential is huge after commercialization in the future