Alliance formed to boost energy storage

China came up with a national energy storage industry innovation alliance on Monday aiming to further boost the country's energy storage sector, as the country aims to promote large-scale use of energy storage technologies at lower costs to back up the world's biggest fleet of wind and solar power plants.

China Energy Engineering Group Co Ltd, together with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd and solar product manufacturer Trina Solar, devised a China Energy Storage Industry Innovation Alliance that includes 62 member companies and proposes to further boost the country's energy storage sector and facilitate a new power system dominated by new energy that includes wind and solar power.

The new-type energy storage systems, meaning all technologies except pumped hydro, is a flexible way of adjusting resource allocation that plays a key role in the large scale of wind and solar energy, said Li Jingru, vice-president of State Grid Economic and Technological Research Institute Co Ltd.

The country is aiming for 50 percent electricity generation from renewable power by 2025, up from 42 percent currently, the National Energy Administration said.

The new-type energy storage sector is embracing massive opportunities in China as the country has been promoting storage technologies in accordance with a massive wind and solar capacity build-out to allow exports of large-scale clean energy to other regions, Li said.

While energy storage will play a key role in ensuring the steady operation of the grid, it is also faced with challenges including security issues, and the potential of its flexible adjustment has not been played to its fullest, she said.

China is targeting new-type energy storage installed capacity of 30 gigawatts by 2025, part of efforts to boost renewable power consumption and ensure grid stability, according to a statement by the National Development and Reform Commission and the NEA.

The 30 GW includes storage using electrochemical, compressed air, flywheel and super-capacitor systems, except pumped hydro.

The country aims to cut the cost of electrochemical energy storage systems by 30 percent by 2025, according to a five-year plan by NDRC, and complete the commercialization of new-type energy storage systems by 2030.

The alliance will further facilitate the country to seek breakthroughs in long-duration storage technologies such as compressed air, hydrogen and thermal energy, and aim for self-reliance in key fields, it said.