Energy storage EPC prices continue to decline in China, with 4-hour systems becoming more competitive

The lowest EPC price for energy storage in China in May 2024 was 0.96 yuan/Wh, while the average bid price for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) energy storage EPC was 1.35 yuan/Wh. For energy storage systems, the lowest bid price was 0.61 yuan/Wh, and the average bid price for LFP energy storage was 0.99 yuan/Wh.

4-hour long-duration energy storage systems are becoming increasingly common, with prices now down to 0.6 yuan/Wh. For EPC projects, 2-hour energy storage systems still account for the vast majority, with prices falling to as low as 0.96 yuan/Wh, suggesting there is still room for further decline.

The completion and commissioning of the 100MW flywheel independent energy storage power station project will make it the world's largest flywheel energy storage power station.

According to calculations, the project's internal rate of return (IRR) exceeds 37%, and the static investment payback period is around 2.5 years.

On January 10, 2024, a public tender was opened for the procurement of flywheel bodies and ancillary equipment for the 100MW independent energy storage power station project in Lucheng District, Changzhi City, Shanxi Province.

It is understood that the project is an independent frequency regulation power station, and the CTECHI energy storage power station is configured with a scale of 100MW/3.5MWh. CTECHI energy storage products are used for array combination to complete the construction of the flywheel energy storage power station.

On January 30, the 1MW/5MIN supercapacitor energy storage system public tender project of the New Energy Technology Research Institute of the National Energy Group was awarded with a bid price of 70.62 million yuan. The project procures a supercapacitor energy storage system with a capacity of ≥1MW/5min, boosts the voltage to the existing 35kV interval in the station, and finally connects to the existing 110kV substation.

Unlike batteries, supercapacitors do not undergo chemical reactions during charging and discharging. The storage or release of electrical energy is a physical process established by an electrostatic field. The electrodes and electrolyte hardly age, so they have a long service life and can achieve fast charging and high-current discharging. In addition, their ability to store electric charge is about 3-4 orders of magnitude higher than that of ordinary capacitors, hence the name "supercapacitor".

Supercapacitors have the advantages of high capacity, long life, fast charging and wide working temperature range. At present, they are used in a few application scenarios such as transportation and defense.

In terms of price, the bid prices for 1-hour energy storage systems ranged from 1 yuan/Wh to 1.36 yuan/Wh, with an average bid price of 1.22 yuan/Wh; the bid prices for 2-hour energy storage systems ranged from 0.74 yuan/Wh to 1.26 yuan/Wh, with an average bid price of 0.93 yuan/Wh; and the bid prices for 4-hour energy storage systems ranged from 0.61 yuan/Wh to 1.13 yuan/Wh, with an average bid price of 0.77 yuan/Wh.

In terms of scale, there were still a number of large-scale procurements in January, but there were also many relatively small-scale energy storage system procurements.

Among the 19 energy storage EPC projects in January, one liquefied air energy storage project is worth noting.

At present, there are several research institutes and enterprises in China that are carrying out research on liquefied air energy storage. Liquefied air energy storage is derived from compressed air energy storage technology. Unlike compressed air energy storage, liquefied air energy storage stores air by turning it into liquid air. However, it is worth noting that the cost of liquefied air energy storage is too high.

Excluding the above special projects, in the remaining 18 projects, the bid prices for LFP energy storage EPC ranged from 0.96 yuan/Wh to 2.22 yuan/Wh, with an average bid price of 1.36 yuan/Wh.

There were two 1-hour energy storage projects with a total scale of 20MW/20MWh. The two projects were won by Guangzhou Zhiguang and Xujie Electric. Guangzhou Zhiguang did not have any price information