The path to reduce costs is clear, and the vanadium battery energy storage market is expected to break out.

First FinanceYesterday 14:48

With the rapid development of the new energy industry, energy storage has become another boom track.

Among them, with the support of policy-driven and continuous maturity of technology, the market penetration rate of vanadium battery storage is expected to further increase. According to incomplete statistics, as of the third week of May 2023, 10 vanadium liquid flow energy storage projects have been signed in China, with a total installed power of 2.9GW, which is nearly 15 times the scale of vanadium battery energy storage installed in 2022.

Liu Suqin, chief scientist of Beijing Xingchen New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. and professor of the School of Chemical Engineering of Central South University, who focuses on the development and production of new energy storage products, believes that vanadium batteries have high safety and are very suitable for large-scale energy storage. At present, the vanadium battery energy storage market is on the eve of the outbreak. According to the international research institute Guidehouse Insights, the global capacity of vanadium liquid flow batteries will exceed 30GWh by 2031, which is a broad market space compared with the current capacity.

It is reported that the path of vanadium battery is clear, and domestic manufacturers are still reducing costs and increasing efficiency through various paths such as improving the performance of key materials and localization.

The industrialization conditions of vanadium batteries are ripe

From a theoretical point of view, vanadium batteries have a long cycle life, high safety, and significant cost advantages in the whole life cycle. From the perspective of practical application, Liu Suqin believes that there should be no substantive problems that can prevent the industrialization of vanadium batteries. Through long-term practice and technical iteration, vanadium batteries have become the current production. One of the most mature and reliable technical routes.

Liu Suqin said that this is not the case for the short board that the energy density of vanadium batteries is only 12 to 40Wh/kg and was once considered "unable to be made up by technical means". The energy density of vanadium batteries is mainly determined by the concentration of the electrolyte. Taking a conventional sulfuric acid solution as an example, its saturation solubility (i.e. vanadium ion concentration) is about 1mol/L, but through some additions, the solution dominated by sulfuric acid or even total sulfuric acid can be at least 2 mol/L. At the same time, some solvents can also be used to maintain the electrochemical activity of the sulfuric acid solution. It is reported in the literature that 8mol/L of all-vanadium liquid flow battery electrolyte can be prepared, that is, the energy density can reach 100Wh/kg, but the charging and discharging performance has not been confirmed. Liu Suqin said.

It is reported that Dalian Borong is the first enterprise in China to produce vanadium electrolyte on a large scale. It has a vanadium electrolyte production line with an annual output of 1 GWh, and its vanadium concentration can reach 1.5-2.0 mol/L; the vanadium concentration test data of the electrolyte of Star New Energy has reached 2.8 mol/L.

From the perspective of the terminal market, vanadium battery energy storage can cover the power generation side, the power grid side and the power consumption side.

The scale of vanadium batteries is slightly different in these three fields. For example, the power generation side can be large or small according to the distribution of solar energy and wind energy; the power grid side involves the smart grid, which is relatively large; and the power consumption side depends on the size of the user. Liu Suqin said.

According to the statistics of the Federal Reserve Securities, the installed scale of the new vanadium battery energy storage project that has been put into operation in China in 2022 is 0.2GW. As of the third week of May 2023, 6 vanadium liquid flow battery system projects have been tendered in China, with a total bidding power of more than 44MW. Most of the enterprises participating in the investment are Shanghai Electric (601727. SH), China Resources Power (00836. HK), state-owned enterprises such as national power investment.

Xu Xiaochen, secretary of Xingchen Xinneng, said that at this stage, lithium electricity still occupies a dominant position in the market in electrochemical energy storage, and vanadium batteries mainly achieve market share in some special scenarios through the improvement of costs and technology. Liquid flow battery technology has advantages in large-scale long-term energy storage and some application scenarios with high safety requirements.

Electrolyte and reactor, vanadium battery multi-path reduction

Electrolytes and reactors are important components of the cost of vanadium batteries, accounting for 41% and 37% of the total cost respectively.

Among them, electrolyte is the key material of vanadium batteries, which can reduce costs by improving efficiency and leasing.

The existing vanadium electrolyte is mainly obtained by mixed electrolysis of V2O5 (vanadium pentoxide) and dilute sulfuric acid. Improving the utilization rate of the electrolyte is actually to improve its activity within the voltage range of charge and discharge, which can be combined by adding some additives to the electrolyte and adding some catalysts to the surface of the electrode. Liu Suqin said that the improvement of the utilization rate of electrolyte can effectively reduce the amount of electrolyte, especially V2O5, and thus achieve the goal of reducing costs.

According to the technical progress of all vanadium liquid flow batteries, price analysis and prospects of different energy storage time systems, if the utilization rate of the electrolyte is 70%, it actually takes about 8kg of V2O5 to store 1kWh of electrical energy; if the utilization rate of the electrolyte is increased to 80%, it actually stores 1kW. The electrical energy of h only needs about 7kg of V2O5.

From the perspective of the leasing reduction path, Xu Xiaochen said that the natural properties of vanadium battery electrolyte are particularly suitable for leasing. First of all, the electrolyte tank is large in size, which is not easy to move back and forth, and the storage is relatively fixed. Combined with the Internet of Things technology, it can track and monitor the leased object. Secondly, in the life cycle time scale of vanadium batteries, the vanadium price is relatively stable and controllable. The rental model can greatly reduce the initial installation cost of owners and customers, so that customers' choice of technical solutions is more focused on the adaptability of application scenarios, rather than the simple initial construction cost.

According to Zou Yi, deputy general manager of Dalian Rongke Energy Storage Technology Development Co., Ltd. and deputy general manager of Anhui Conch Ronghua Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd., at the 11th International Energy Storage Summit and Exhibition, its vanadium battery electrolyte leasing model has been reported for the first time in the "Zongyang Conch Cement 6MW36MWh Project". Use.

It is reported that as early as September 2020, Invinity, a British supplier of all-vanadium liquid flow batteries, and the United States Mineral Development (VERL) was founded by Bushveld, a mineral developer in cooperation with vanadium producer Bushveld. The company signed a contract with Pivot Power to provide it with a ten-year electrolyte lease.

Zou Yi introduced that after using the electrolyte rental mode, most of the initial input cost of the electrolyte is exempted, and the initial input is about half of the purchase mode. In the future, the electrolyte leasing model will become an important model to promote the commercial application of vanadium battery energy storage.

Xu Xiaochen said that from the perspective of the lessor, if the electrolyte leasing business is to continue to be carried out and all parties can benefit from it, the following conditions need to be met. First, electrolyte rental enterprises should have a certain control over vanadium resources and be able to continuously guarantee the source of raw materials for electrolyte; second, they need a certain amount of funds to support behind them, which can meet the financial needs for the continuous procurement of electrolyte. Of course, through some financial instruments, the cash flow of the business can be optimized. For example, the leased electrolyte will form accounts receivable, and the company can collect accounts receivable through ABS (AssetBackedSecuritization) or similar to REITs funds. The funds are securitized, thus reducing the financial pressure on the front-end.

In the reactor link, the autonomous controllability of proton exchange membranes is constantly enhanced, and the price of domestic products has decreased significantly compared with that of foreign countries.

Among them, Jiangsu Kelun's Nepem-11 series is manufactured using a new smelting process, and a new fluororesin resin mixing formula with good vanadium resistance is added in the smelting process. The permeability of vanadium is reduced by 80%, the elastic modulus (420MPa) is higher than Nafion, the elongation of the fracture (120%) is smaller, and the conductivity (0.1S/cm) is better than the mainstream product in the industry - Kemu's Nafion perfluorinated sulfonate resin exchange film. The mechanical strength and moisture content are almost the same.

Dongyue Group (0189. HK) subsidiary Dongyue Future Hydrogen Energy is one of the few enterprises in China that has achieved a breakthrough in the mass production technology of the whole industrial chain of perfluorinated proton exchange membranes and has large-scale supply capacity. The first phase of Dongyue Future Hydrogen Energy 1.5 million square meters of proton exchange membrane production line was officially put into operation in November 2020.

Dalian Institute of Physical and Chemical Technology has successfully prepared a porous ion conduction film with high void rate, uniform pore size distribution and good penetration. Using the single battery assembled by the film, the energy efficiency exceeds 90% under the condition of 80mA/cm2 charge and discharge.

In terms of price, Xu Xiaochen said that the previous purchase price of Nafion was as high as 10,000 yuan/square meter, but now it has dropped to less than 5,000 yuan/square meter, or even lower; the purchase of domestic perfluorosulfonic acid proton exchange membrane can basically be reduced to about 1,000 yuan/square meter, and if the amount is large, per square meter It can also be reduced to less than 1,000 yuan.

In addition to Jiangsu Kelun and Dalian Institute of Physical and Chemical Technology, domestic Yihuatong-U (688339. SH)'s Shanghai Shenli, Guorun Energy Storage, etc. have independently innovated and developed lower-cost proton exchange membranes.

Article Source: First Finance

Original title: The path to reduce the capital is clear, and the vanadium battery energy storage market is expected to explode.