With the rapid decline in the prices of energy storage batteries and other equipment, as well as the favorable industrial and commercial electricity prices, coupled with subsidies from governments in multiple regions and the improvement of equipment performance, user side energy storage has ushered in a golden period of development. Especially this year, many energy storage investment and equipment companies have stepped down, opening up a "new battlefield" for user side energy storage. Central enterprise giants such as State Power Investment Corporation, Three Gorges, and Southern Power Grid have also increased their investment layout, Leading integrated enterprises have also launched new products for user side energy storage, and numerous enterprises specializing in user side energy storage solutions are constantly emerging.
The layout area of the user side energy storage market is also constantly expanding. In addition to traditional investment hotspots such as Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Jiangsu, emerging markets such as Chongqing, Anhui, and Hunan are also gradually emerging.
Under the existing model, utilizing the peak valley electricity price difference of large industrial electricity prices to profit is still the main means of profit for energy storage on the user side of industry and commerce. At the same time, the industry is actively exploring multiple "value-added service packages", that is, in addition to profit from peak valley electricity price differences, exploring services such as participating in demand side response, demand saving, reducing transformer capacity expansion and transformation costs, and distributed photovoltaic consumption, in order to improve the economy of energy storage on the user side.
Under the promotion of multiple factors, the user side energy storage market has developed rapidly. However, at the same time, with the construction of new power systems and the advancement of the power market, the development and operation mode of user side energy storage is also quietly changing.
At present, the sales electricity price of the Industrial and Commercial Catalogue has withdrawn from the historical stage, and industrial and commercial users are gradually entering the electricity market. The industrial and commercial electricity price mainly consists of grid electricity price, grid link line loss cost, transmission and distribution electricity price, system operation cost, government funds, and additional components. The grid electricity price will fluctuate according to the generation cost. In the electricity market, electricity, as a commodity, will reflect its spatiotemporal value and present a price mechanism of "rising and falling".
The electricity spot market is the main direction of electricity market reform. On September 7th, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration issued the "Basic Rules of the Electricity Spot Market", which is an important step forward in the promotion of the electricity spot market. The goal of the construction of the electricity spot market is to form electricity price signals that reflect temporal and spatial characteristics, reflect changes in market supply and demand, and play a decisive role in the allocation of electricity resources.
The document proposes to promote the participation of new business entities such as energy storage and virtual power plants in transactions. In the future, under the spot electricity rules, the operation and profit model of user side energy storage will undergo profound changes. How user side energy storage can profit in the "up and down" electricity market, and the fluctuations in electricity prices will also bring uncertainty and future imagination to user side energy storage.
Shandong is one of the first regions in China to carry out pilot electricity spot market trading, and also a region with rapid development of new energy. From this, we can glimpse the operational laws of the future electricity market. New energy sources such as photovoltaics and wind power account for a relatively high proportion of various power sources in Shandong Province, which has changed the operating rules of traditional power systems. For example, during the traditional peak noon electricity consumption period, the industrial and commercial electricity prices are adjusted to valley hour electricity, thereby encouraging users to use more electricity; For example, during some periods of the electricity spot market, there is a "negative electricity price phenomenon". Although the amount of electricity involved in spot trading is still limited, as an important "wind vane", with the gradual opening up of the electricity market, the expansion of the scale of electricity involved in trading and the increase of electricity price fluctuations will put forward higher requirements for energy storage investment and operation level on the user side.
At the same time, the country is also deepening the reform of transmission and distribution electricity prices. For example, in May this year, the National Development and Reform Commission released the third regulatory cycle of transmission and distribution electricity prices, recalculating the electricity prices for industrial and commercial users. The composition of industrial and commercial electricity prices, capacity (demand) electricity prices, etc. have been recalculated, bringing new changes to the development and investment calculation models of user side energy storage.
The carbon emission control in the production process of enterprises is also receiving attention. For example, the EU's "Waste Batteries and Waste Battery Law" needs to calculate and assess the carbon footprint of battery production, processing, use, and recycling. The zero carbon emissions in the production process of products will be valued, and some regions in China will build zero carbon parks to achieve coordinated interaction between source, grid, load, and storage, as well as zero carbon emissions goals through elements such as photovoltaics, wind turbines, charging piles, and cogeneration units.
In the future, the operating rules of user side energy storage will gradually change, and the application models will become more diverse. The revenue models will present characteristics of diversification, variability, and complexity. How to learn and adapt to market changes will be a focus of concern for the industrial chain.
Author: Hemu Source: Industrial Policy Research Center of the Energy Storage Application Branch of the China Chemical and Physical Power Industry Association