Editor? /? Tu Yanping
Design? /? Du? triumphant
Source? /? The Financial Times, by Henry? Sanderson
In most parts of the world, renewable energy sources such as wind energy and solar energy are becoming cheaper than fossil fuels, but they need to be stored to become feasible and stable energy sources, so it is urgent to find alternative energy storage methods.
On a windswept seawall off the north Kent coast of Mary King (Mary? King) points to miles of open swamp farmland, where there will soon be thousands of solar panels and one of the largest battery equipment in the country. This battery factory will become a common sight in Britain and other places.
165438+ 10/8, British prime minister Boris Johnson (Boris? Johnson) promises to install enough wind turbines to provide electricity for every household by 2030, but this will require a solution to manage intermittent energy supply.
That's why we need a battery, a device that can store electric energy as chemical energy. Lithium-ion batteries used in mobile phones and Tesla electric vehicles are the most important energy storage technology at present. From California to Australia, and perhaps Kent, lithium-ion batteries are being used to help power grids manage the surge in renewable energy supply.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk (Elon? Musk) has said that he expects the company's energy business, including providing solar energy and huge lithium-ion batteries for the power grid, to be as big as the automobile business in the long run.
However, in addition to lithium-ion batteries, cheaper and more durable energy storage technologies are needed to completely replace fossil fuel power plants and realize 100% utilization of renewable energy, but most of them are not cost-effective. At present, gas-fired power plants make up for the gap of renewable energy and provide a stable energy supply, which can last longer than the current batteries.
One of the green industrial revolutions launched by the British government is an energy innovation fund of 654.38 billion pounds to help the commercialization of low-carbon new technologies. Including the high view of the suburbs of Manchester? The power company is building liquid air batteries.
Lithium-ion battery is the dominant storage technology at present, and it is being deployed all over the world to help the power grid manage the surge of renewable energy supply.
Without energy storage, it will be difficult for countries to significantly reduce the use of natural gas and coal-fired power plants, and it will be difficult to reduce the harmful effects of climate change, such as sea level rise and extreme weather conditions.
Companies are competing to develop the next breakthrough, including battery technology using abundant raw materials, volcanic rocks, liquid air storage tanks and systems for lowering heavy objects into abandoned mines, so as to start using renewable energy on a large scale in the middle of this century. This is supported by several famous business leaders, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates (Bill? Gates) and Masayoshi Son of Softbank. ?
"If we want to decarbonize completely, then all these technologies will be necessary." Energy consulting company Wood? McKinsey analyst Rory McCarthy? McCarthy) said, "but you need to invest billions of dollars to make a difference."
Zero inventory supply chain?
The power grid should constantly match supply and demand every day. This process becomes more difficult if coal-fired and gas-fired power plants that provide reliable and stable energy supply are separated. Sadovi, a Canadian chemistry professor at MIT (Donald? Sadoway) compares the power grid to "the largest supply chain in the world, but zero inventory".
Hoorns Dell Power Reserve is one of the largest lithium-ion batteries in the world, manufactured by Tesla near Jamestown, South Australia.
In the first quarter of this year, renewable energy provided a record 47% of Britain's electricity. However, this success created a problem a few weeks later. After the first nationwide coronavirus blockade in March, the energy demand dropped by as much as 20%. When the power generation of renewable energy reaches about 50% of the total power generation, the work of the national grid becomes more difficult, and it is necessary to use the large rotating turbine of fossil fuel power plants to alleviate the fluctuation of the system.
The decline in demand means that renewable energy accounts for more than half of the energy structure, and engineers in the State Grid Control Center have to make a delicate balance, some of which involve increasing the use of energy storage. Supporters say this proves that the expansion of technology is correct.
It turns out that this is a test case of how to look at the future power grid. When the proportion of renewable energy is large, harmony? CEO of Kavanagh Energy Company (Peter? Kavanagh) said that the company used six Tesla lithium-ion batteries to power the power grid in Poole, on the south coast of Britain.
"In many countries, solar energy and wind energy are the cheapest forms of power generation, but once renewable energy forms a certain scale in the energy mix, it needs to be stored, as we saw during the epidemic." He said, "The epidemic has proved the business case of battery storage five years in advance."
At present, more than 97% of the energy storage methods in the world are pumping water to high-level reservoirs by electricity, and then releasing the water to drive turbines to generate more electricity. This is the so-called "pumped storage". Reservoirs are a way to store energy. However, these systems are greatly influenced by the geographical environment and may be limited by the increasing shortage of water resources in the future.
The advantage of lithium-ion battery is that it can be placed anywhere and can supply power to the power grid very quickly like an electric car. They can respond within a few milliseconds, and generally provide up to four hours of storage time to help the power grid cope with sudden blackouts, but in the long run, the cost is too high. In Britain, most large lithium-ion batteries can provide 30-90 minutes of energy.
Does the redox solution flow through electricity?
Alternative technology can make a lot of energy stored more safely for a long time, which will make wind energy and solar energy more integrated. But they need to expand rapidly to meet the growing demand and maintain cost competitiveness.
In June of this year, 5438+ 10, California Energy Commission, the main energy policy and planning agency in California, called for the establishment of long-term energy storage, providing more than 10 hour of energy, enough to store solar energy for one day for overnight use.
One of the successful bidders is Invinidi Energy Systems, which uses large batteries based on vanadium, which is a raw material used in the steel industry to improve the strength of metals. These redox flow batteries were first developed by NASA in the 1970s. They use individually charged large electrolyte tanks to store energy, which makes them easier to expand than traditional batteries.
A vanadium mine in Bahia, Brazil. It is evil to use this material? Energy? Matt from systems? Harper said that vanadium batteries can store 8 to 10 hours of renewable energy during the day and use it during peak demand.
Matt Harper, the company's chief commercial officer (Matt? Harper) said that vanadium batteries can store 8 to 65,438+00 hours of renewable energy during the day and deploy at peak demand or at night, setting a lower limit for electricity prices. He said that because vanadium batteries use water-based electrolyte, the possibility of fire extinguishing is greater than that of fire. They also have a longer life than lithium-ion batteries and can be used for 30 years.
In downtown Dalian, northeast of China, Ke Rong Electric Power is building the world's largest vanadium battery. With a capacity of 800 MWh, it will be more than three times that of the world's largest lithium-ion battery equipment located in California. It will help Liaoning power grid to better access wind power.
"It is not allowed to install large lithium-ion batteries in the city center (for safety reasons)." Li Bin, marketing director of Ke Rong, said, "The safety problem of lithium-ion batteries has not been solved."
However, the price of vanadium fluctuates greatly. 10 soared to11USD in October, and now it has dropped to $25/kg, which may have an impact on production costs.
Siemens volcanic rock energy storage
Those looking for other energy storage options completely avoid using batteries and try natural and physical solutions similar to water pumps, which can dispatch energy within 20 hours without natural reservoirs.
On the outskirts of Hamburg, Germany, the front of a gray concrete windowless building reads "Welcome to the Neolithic Age" in purple letters. The plant is operated by Siemens Gemesa, the world's second largest wind turbine manufacturer.
Siemens Gomesa Hamburg Factory uses 65,438+0,000 tons of volcanic rocks from Norway, and stores 65,438+0.30 MWh of energy in the form of heat energy, providing enough energy for about 3,000 German families or about 750 electric vehicles.
First, volcanic rocks are heated to at least 600℃ by electricity. This energy can be stored for a week, but the goal is to dispatch electricity overnight. Hassan (Hassan? Oezdem) said that the system can be installed in coal-fired power plants facing elimination and use its turbines.
"You can turn them into huge storage facilities." He said, "The biggest utilities are trying to be reborn because you can't sell them and no one buys coal-fired power plants. What we offer is to make it run for green purposes. "
On the outskirts of Manchester, a similar project is taking shape on the site of a retired power plant, using containers of liquid air instead of volcanic rocks. Highview？ In June, Power broke ground on a 250 MW power plant in Trafford Energy Park after receiving a grant of ￡ 10000000.
"Lithium-ion battery is a great technology, but it is too small for the challenges facing the power grid." Company CEO Javier? Cavada) said, "The business model of long-term energy storage is to ensure that all wind and solar power generation are utilized."
Wind turbines off the Essex coast of England. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised that by 2030, enough wind turbines will be installed to provide electricity for every household.
Despite these advantages, these technologies will be difficult to beat the manufacturing scale of lithium ion, which has been promoted by the surge in investment in electric vehicles in the past decade. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, from 20 10 to last year, the price of lithium-ion batteries actually dropped by 87%, about 156 USD/kWh.
This price may fall further. According to wood? According to McKinsey's data, by 2030, the number of batteries installed in the world for power grid storage will rise to 74 1 GWh, most of which are lithium-ion batteries, led by the United States and China. 1 GWh is enough to power 1 every household 1 hour.
In addition, hydrogen produced by electrolyzing water with electricity can be a competitive solution for long-term energy storage. Hydrogen can be stored in underground caves or depleted oil and gas fields.
Cliff. Graveni near Hill, Hive? Energy Energy plans to build its solar energy and storage base there. The company is deciding which technology to use to produce batteries, but it is likely to choose lithium-ion batteries.
Beehive? The energy company plans to develop Cleve near Grevini? Hugh Brennan, general manager of Hill Solar Energy and Energy Storage Base Company (Hugh? Brennan) said that the company is deciding which technology to use to make batteries, but it is likely to choose lithium ion.
In Grevini, there are placards outside the church and on the roadside with pictures of gas masks and the slogan "No solar power plants".
Overview of energy storage technologies other than lithium ion
Energy storage of vanadium redox flow battery: two storage tanks with positive and negative liquid vanadium electrolyte are used, and these electrolytes are pumped into the battery through the diaphragm. This kind of battery has lower deterioration degree and longer cycle life than lithium-ion battery.
Compressed air energy storage: liquid air is cooled to below zero 196℃ and then stored in the storage tank. Then heating drives the turbine to generate electricity. Another method is to use heated compressed air to store energy in specially built caves.
Gravity energy storage: it includes lifting heavy ore blocks up and down in abandoned mines as a way of storage and power generation.
Molten salt energy storage: Malta is a thermal energy storage company, supported by Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Venture Capital Company, which stores energy as thermal energy in the form of molten salt. The company said that the technology can last for more than 20 years and is suitable for storage for more than 6 hours.
Liquid metal battery energy storage uses metal to naturally separate when heated to form cathode and anode, which are separated by salt electrolyte. Once initially heated, the battery will generate heat when discharging and charging, thus maintaining a high working temperature.
Low-cost batteries using cheap raw materials such as iron, sulfur and zinc provide a substitute for lithium-ion battery technology. For example, EOS, a developer of zinc-based batteries, said that its batteries have the ability to release energy within 3 to 12 hours. Form, a startup supported by Bill Gates? Energy said that its battery can store energy 150 hours at low cost.
Hydrogen energy storage: hydrogen production by electricity is a way to store energy, but there will be a lot of energy loss in this process, so the efficiency is not as good as that of batteries.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.