Market structure | Year-end review of Chinese flow battery energy storage companies (Part 2)

Under the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, the increasing proportion of renewable energy such as wind power and photovoltaics in my country is an irresistible trend. The rapid development of new energy storage has become a global consensus, and the demand for long-term energy storage will be more urgent. Liquid flow batteries, as a potential "dark horse" in long-term energy storage, have attracted much attention and favor from the market in recent years due to their inherent safety, ultra-long life, large scale, and environmental friendliness. They have developed rapidly. As witnesses and participants in the liquid flow battery industry, the Asian Liquid Flow Battery Industry Alliance (Preparatory), China New Energy Network, and Global Liquid Flow Battery Network will present a special year-end corporate inventory of the industry in this issue. In view of the enthusiastic feedback from everyone after the inventory (Part 1) was issued, in the next article we will further organize, inventory and analyze companies in Shandong, Shanxi, Anhui, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Jilin, Guizhou, Sichuan, Shaanxi and other regions. (If there are omissions or inaccuracies, please call the editorial department at 0571-28902366. Thank you for your attention and support!)

Shandong

ENERFLOW Liquid Flow Energy Storage

Liquid Flow Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. is a global leading provider of liquid flow battery energy storage system solutions. The company has always focused on the research and development of key core technologies for liquid flow batteries, providing safe, long-term, durable and green one-stop new energy storage solutions for customers on the grid side, power generation side and user side. The main business includes the design, construction, operation and maintenance, system recovery and financial leasing of liquid flow battery energy storage systems. At present, several megawatt-level projects invested and constructed by the company have been running smoothly.

As a global leader in the liquid flow energy storage industry, it is the only company in China that has mastered the key technologies of all-vanadium and iron-chromium liquid flow batteries at the same time, and has obtained dozens of core invention patents. The company's core product materials are self-developed and self-produced, and the products have the characteristics of high safety, long cycle life, good charge and discharge characteristics, high residual value recovery, and environmental friendliness. At the same time, the company has mastered two major all-vanadium liquid flow battery systems, sulfuric acid-based and hydrochloric acid-based. Among them, the hydrochloric acid-based all-vanadium liquid flow battery system, which is the first in China, has excellent performance in a wide temperature range of -35℃-65℃; through self-developed core membrane materials and short-process electrolyte technology, the cost of battery stacks/electrolytes is reduced; the company has more than ten years of experience in the new energy industry, deeply engaged in the new energy storage industry, and is committed to leading the industry to open up the industrial chain and build an ecosystem. It has built a full industrial chain layout integrating battery stacks, electrolytes and system integration in many places such as Shandong, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Qinghai. It has established a solid alliance and cooperative relationship with central enterprises and listed companies such as China National Electric Equipment Group, Shandong Haihua (000822.SZ), and Yaxing Chemical (600319.SH).

It is reported that in September and December 2023, Liquid Flow Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. (Enerflow) completed two rounds of financing of hundreds of millions of yuan. Investors included Hillhouse Capital, Guoxing Securities, Luxin Venture Capital, Tielin Capital, etc.

▲Liquid Flow Energy Storage Company Shandong Smart Factory

▲Liquid Flow Energy Storage Company’s Xinjiang Smart Factory

▲Liquid Flow Energy Storage Company’s Inner Mongolia Smart Factory

▲Liquid flow energy storage company CNNC Tancheng 1MW/4MWh all-vanadium liquid flow battery energy storage power station

▲Liquid Flow Energy Storage Company Huadian Laicheng 1MW/6MWh Energy Storage Power Station Project

▲Liquid Flow Energy Storage Company State Power Investment Group Zhucheng 1MW/6MWh Liquid Flow Energy Storage Demonstration Project

Herui Electric Investment

Herui Electric Power Investment Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. was established in November 2020. Its main business is the production and sales of iron-chromium liquid flow battery stacks. It is the first new energy technology company in China to mass-produce this technology. In March 2023, Herui Electric Power Investment completed its shareholding restructuring and became a state-owned joint-stock enterprise jointly funded by Beijing Herui Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. and Shandong Gaochuang Holding Group Co., Ltd. Herui Electric Power Investment will be based on the Shandong energy storage market, seize the local market opportunities, and gradually move towards the national market with the development advantages of State Power Investment in the field of new energy. The goal is to become a benchmark enterprise for high-end manufacturing of liquid flow energy storage batteries within five years and provide the market with the most trustworthy liquid flow energy storage batteries.

It is understood that the company currently has two liquid flow battery production lines with independent intellectual property rights. The planned 50MW capacity in the first phase has been fully put into production, and the upstream and downstream industrial chains have been opened up, with the matching rate of parts in the province reaching more than 90%; the second phase plans to build a 300MW production line, which will be put into production in 2023; the construction of a 3GW intelligent industrial park will be completed in 2025, and the production capacity will reach 100,000 units/year. After the 3GW energy storage system is put into operation, it will be equivalent to 2.5 times the capacity of a 1.2 million KW power plant.

On August 19, 2023, my country's first hybrid energy storage project consisting of three forms of iron-chromium flow battery, flywheel and lithium battery was put into operation at the Inner Mongolia Electric Power Branch. The project is located in the Circular Economy Industrial Park in Holingol City, Inner Mongolia, and will build a hybrid energy storage system with an installed capacity of 3 megawatts of iron-chromium flow battery, flywheel and lithium battery. As of the end of December, the "three-mode hybrid" energy storage system of the power branch has completed more than 100 complete cycles, with a cumulative charge and discharge capacity of nearly 300,000 kWh. Among them, the 1-megawatt iron-chromium flow battery energy storage system is equipped with 34 "Ronghe No. 1" battery stacks independently developed by State Power Investment Corporation and 4 groups of storage tanks, which can store up to 6,000 degrees of electricity. It is the world's first megawatt-level iron-chromium flow battery energy storage system, breaking the world's largest capacity record.

Shanxi

Guorun Energy Storage

Shanxi Guorun Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. is a specialized, innovative and high-tech enterprise with a comprehensive layout of all-vanadium liquid flow battery equipment manufacturing and large-scale production of core diaphragm materials for liquid flow batteries. It mainly provides research and development, production, sales and services for all-vanadium liquid flow battery energy storage systems, liquid flow batteries and diaphragm materials for hydrogen production by electrolysis of water, and is committed to providing customers with safe, economical and efficient comprehensive energy storage solutions. Guorun Energy Storage has a core R&D team of more than 30 people from well-known universities such as Tsinghua University, Beijing Institute of Technology, and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. The team has been deeply involved in the field of liquid flow battery energy storage for more than ten years and has a full set of leading core technologies such as all-vanadium liquid flow battery system research and development, battery stack manufacturing, ion membrane production and control system. In November 2023, Guorun Energy Storage signed a cooperation agreement with the Wenzhou Municipal Government, and the annual production of 1GWh all-vanadium liquid flow energy storage battery manufacturing project was officially signed and landed in Wenzhou Bay New District and Longwan District. Not long ago, the first flight of Shanxi Shuozhou Zirun Airport was launched. Guorun Energy Storage's all-vanadium liquid flow battery technology helped the airport's new applications of smart energy and green energy, and ushered in another milestone in the field of commercialization.

Shanxi Shuozhou Zero Carbon Airport 1.25MW/5MWh All-vanadium Liquid Flow Battery Energy Storage Project

Huashuo 250kW/1MWh all-vanadium liquid flow battery photovoltaic storage and charging integrated project

In August 2022, Guorun Energy Storage completed an angel round of financing of over 50 million yuan, and completed two rounds of A rounds of financing worth hundreds of millions of yuan in June and November 2023. It is reported that the company is currently recruiting at full speed, and a new round of financing is expected to start in March 2024.

Anhui

Conch Ronghua

Anhui Conch Ronghua Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. was established in March 2022. It is an important company of Conch Technology Development's green energy business under Conch Group. The company's main business is the research and development, manufacturing, and integration of all-vanadium liquid flow energy storage batteries. It provides customers with systematic solutions and smart integrated energy services, and also engages in electrolyte leasing and other businesses.