Is there any value in the cascade utilization of retired power batteries?

When the large-scale decommissioning of power lithium batteries is approaching, when economic, safety, and marketing issues are still unclear, whether it is straight recycling or cascading recycling has become a more controversial topic in the industry. one. Some people believe that the use of batteries in cascades for civilian use has more commercial value, such as mobile charging treasures, landscape lights, environmental protection lights, etc.; some believe that the use of cascades is currently facing high costs, a profit model has not yet been established, and safety has not yet been verified. , Weak profitability and other issues, are not optimistic about the use of cascades. At the Advanced Technology Lithium Battery (2018) International Lithium-ion Battery Key Material Technology Innovation Summit, Professor Li Jian from Central South University said: “From the perspective of use, as long as the detailed usage scenarios are dealt with, and appropriate methods are used, the cascaded use is still It can be done, or it is profitable.' At present, the use of power lithium batteries is mainly divided into two aspects, one is large-scale energy storage, and the other is small-scale energy storage. In the field of large-scale energy storage, the most important thing is power system energy storage, such as the megawatt-hour energy storage system, but it is currently difficult to use on a large scale, and more verification needs to be done. At the same time, industry experts agree that in 2012 In the past, batteries will not be used in large-scale power systems. 'As far as the field of large energy storage is concerned, the current cascade battery does not have economic value. Only subsidies can be profitable, and the cost can only be recovered after 5 years.' said Bao Wei, general manager of Huayou Cycle. In the field of small-scale energy storage, the current industry is doing relatively well and most of the profitable ones are used in the civilian field, such as mobile power banks, environmentally friendly lights, solar cells and other products. It is understood that GEM has made cascaded use of solar battery packs in the decommissioning of power lithium batteries, as well as energy storage battery packs and base stations. In addition, my country’s tower announced in 2018 that it will provide backup power supplies for communication base stations, peak shaving and valley filling, and micro Lead-acid batteries are no longer purchased in power grids and other fields, and gradually replaced by cascade batteries. The current situation is good. Although cascade utilization has made progress in the field of small energy storage, there are still corresponding problems in the market, recycling and other links. Yuan Tinggang, head of GEM, explained that although the company is currently trying to make use of echelon, it has not yet been used on a large scale and is in the exploratory stage. The important reason is that there are not many retired battery packs. The most important thing is the detection package; the second is that the back-end market has not yet opened. Li Zhenbiao, the project director of the my country Automotive Technology Research Center, said that the use of batteries for cascading use in some civilian applications will face the situation that the batteries cannot be collected, and the traceability system will be broken by then. In view of the future issue of battery destinations, the power battery recycling traceability management platform will play a supervisory role, adhering to who is responsible for the 'echelonIt is worth mentioning that the cost difference between the cascade utilization battery system and the new battery system is the key to whether the cascade utilization can achieve economy. In recent years, with the rapid improvement of new battery performance and rapid cost decline, it has undoubtedly become the biggest competitive factor affecting the development of the cascade utilization market. Bao Wei said: 'Currently, the price of cascade batteries is about 0.35 yuan/watt-hour; as the cost decreases, it is estimated that the new battery pack can achieve 0.6-0.7 yuan/watt-hour. If it continues to decline in the future, cascade batteries and new batteries The difference is gradually narrowing, and the cascade battery will have no meaning.'