This article explains in detail the practical path, business model, effectiveness and problems of energy internet

China Energy Storage Network : What is the concept of energy internet? The author believes:

Energy Internet is based on smart grids, interconnected with various types of networks such as heat pipe networks, natural gas pipe networks, and transportation pipe networks, and coordinated transformation and efficient storage of various energy forms;

Support the full access of distributed renewable energy and various types of energy, and satisfy the participation and sharing of any legal entity;

Realize the deep integration of information and energy to support the "plug and play" and "two-way transmission" of various energy production and consumption facilities, and ensure distributed, intermittent and diversified energy supply and demand;

Under the premise of coordinated operation of centralized and distributed energy sources, it can fully reflect its autonomous, self-healing and dynamic ecological characteristics.

Various forces promote

From the national level, policies are constantly being introduced to encourage the development of energy Internet. At the end of February this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the National Energy Administration issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Development of "Internet +" Smart Energy", which is centered on reform and innovation, "Internet +" as a means, and intelligence as a basis, focusing on building a green, low-carbon, safe, and efficient modern energy system, promoting the deep integration of energy and information, and promoting the development of new technologies, new models, and new forms of energy Internet. And put forward the development goals for the short-term and medium-term promotion.

At the end of June, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology also issued a notice, which for the first time clearly stated that industrial power demand management should be promoted in the park mode, and recently launched the recommendation work for the 2016 demonstration parks. The four conditions for being selected as a demonstration park are:

Economic and technological development zones and high-tech development zones established in accordance with the law;

There is a high degree of industrial concentration, with a stock GDP of more than 10 billion;

Energy management is relatively centralized, with stock electricity consumption exceeding 1 billion kWh;

It has a demonstration effect in management platform construction, coordinated and optimized operation of sources, grids, loads and storage, energy Internet construction, energy efficiency benchmarking and evaluation analysis, and smart microgrid construction.

From a market perspective, since the promulgation of the Central Document No. 9 last year, hundreds of power sales companies have been established across the country. Except for the power grid as a traditional power sales method and some individual power sales models similar to the integrated distribution and sales pilot model in Guizhou, the rest are mainly independent power sales companies.

Independent power sales companies do not have obvious competitive advantages, and few of them are profitable. The author is optimistic about the integrated power sales companies. Because they have the right to operate the distribution network and are open to social capital; they have more possibilities to obtain data and resources. With the popularization of emerging facilities such as energy storage and electric vehicles and the access to distributed renewable energy, the grid structure and service space of integrated power sales companies will be enlarged and changed, and their service functions and value-added service space will have a lot of room for expansion.

From the perspective of the pressure of urbanization development, my country's urbanization process is developing rapidly, and smart cities have been included in the development plans of large and medium-sized cities, but the situation of atmospheric environmental problems is severe, and low-carbon economic and social development has become the primary issue of economic and social development. The International Energy Agency (IEA) warned that air pollution has become the fourth largest threat to human health after high blood pressure, dietary risks, and smoking.

In terms of resources and technical conditions, my country's large power grid and ultra-high voltage technology are ahead of the world. Technically speaking, the monitoring technology and security measures of the large power grid are more than sufficient for local energy systems, and the redundant capacity of the large power grid that my country has formed over the years under the current system and rules will be greatly released.

The only problem is how to implement supportive policies and regulations for opening up the power distribution market to change the current energy system and regulations; whether we can make great efforts to integrate technical resources and market resources. The former relies on the government's administrative promotion, and the latter will come from the powerful force of the market. Both need to be "perfected in practice" rather than waiting for "perfection before doing". To be precise, we only have institutional barriers, not technical barriers. Wireless charging and energy routers only determine the technical level of the energy Internet, not the industrial form of the energy Internet. In other words, the energy Internet calls for these technologies, but does not rely on them.

Therefore, as an emerging industry, energy Internet has powerful internal and external driving forces. Once demonstrated, a "blowout" situation will inevitably emerge.

Path selection and mode analysis

So what path will the Energy Internet project follow?

I think there are four prerequisites: relatively independent parks or regions; large and predictable incremental energy demand; good top-level design and positioning in the energy Internet; integrated investment and operation, and integrated energy distribution.

Realistic and feasible paths to realize energy internet:

First, start with the power demand side management of industrial parks;

The second is to set up an energy property company and start with energy property services;

The third is to start with absorbing the renewable energy of abandoned wind and solar power;

Fourth, start from new power supply projects and their power supply areas or comprehensive energy planning; Fifth, start from the areas under construction and newly built areas with high environmental requirements and great peak-shaving pressure.

In terms of business models, I think there are three models:

The first is the integrated model. The existing assets are invested or leased by the project company, and all incremental assets are exclusively invested and held by the project company, which has the overall management rights of energy distribution and assumes the responsibility of safe operation and energy guarantee.

The second is the platform model. As the regional operating entity, the project company can, based on actual conditions, hand over the power supply, cold and heat source facilities, energy substitution, storage and even local power sales business within the planning scope to other parties with advantageous conditions through legal procedures. All parties shall bear corresponding rights and responsibilities in investment, construction, operation and transaction according to market planning. Based on the agreement, the system is guaranteed to work together in various states with the support of Internet technology.

The third is the PPP model, which is a cooperation model between the public sector and social capital, with three major characteristics: partnership, benefit sharing, and risk sharing.

Efficacy evaluation

Energy Internet is a new form of energy that realizes deep integration, high coordination, effective sharing and everyone gets what they want from multiple resources and stakeholders at different times and spaces. Therefore, its effectiveness is mainly reflected in the following seven aspects:

First, have various existing and potential resources, especially renewable resources, within and around the planning scope been given sufficient attention and been or will be effectively utilized? In addition to traditional energy resources, these include buildings and structures that can be used for photovoltaic power generation, wind energy, geothermal energy, waste heat (kilns, sewage), garbage, sludge, etc.

Second, with respect to different demands, whether the production, storage, and substitution of various energy sources at different times and spaces can meet the needs of users at different times and spaces to the greatest extent possible.

Third, whether its distributed energy and micro (pipeline) network planning is scientific, intensive (including voltage level, pipeline network pressure), and reasonable, so as to ensure that the self-reliance, autonomy, and self-healing capabilities of the energy Internet and even its micro units are optimized while meeting demand.

Fourth, the recognition and participation of all relevant parties determine the coordination of system production and consumption; the coordination determines the balance of system supply and demand and the predictability and rationality of load curve, so as to make the energy transaction volume of the large system predictable and controllable. Only by continuously improving the user service level and quality and striving to make users the beneficiaries, will users recognize and actively participate.

Fifth, the degree of application of innovative technologies is the key to improving their utility and effectiveness, mainly including: application of energy storage technology, application of flexible DC technology in AC/DC hybrid systems, application of vehicle-pile networking, two-way charging, and peak-shaving technology for urban electric vehicles, application of power quality monitoring and management technology, application of information security protection technology, and energy router technology.