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

The company has been engaged in the deep processing of vanadium and the research and development of vanadium electrolyte for nearly 20 years. It has an annual output of 2,000 tons of high-purity vanadium pentoxide, 2,000 tons of high-purity ammonium metavanadate dry-based products, and 5,000 cubic meters of vanadium battery electrolyte. Among them, high-purity vanadium pentoxide (purity > 99.5%) has large-scale production preparation technology and implementation capabilities, and is supplied to domestic and foreign companies all year round. The production line developed by the company has low energy consumption and a high degree of intelligence. The product quality exceeds international standards and reaches the international advanced level.

In addition, Hunan Chuangda Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd., invested by Chuangda Holding Group, is engaged in the research and development of zinc-iron/iron-sulfur liquid flow batteries, CRRC Zhuzhou Institute has begun to involve in liquid flow battery projects, and Hunan Jinglen New Materials Technology Co., Ltd. is a newcomer in the research and development of vanadium electrolytes. Hunan universities and enterprises, led by Central South University, have started research in the field of liquid flow batteries very early and have accumulated considerable experience.

Guangdong

Neutralizing Energy Storage

Shenzhen Zhonghe Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. was established in 2021. It is a world-leading R&D and manufacturing company of key materials and energy storage equipment for liquid flow batteries, focusing on the R&D, manufacturing and application of long-term energy storage technology for liquid flow batteries. The company aims to solve the industry pain point of high initial installation costs of liquid flow batteries by developing low-cost, high-performance revolutionary key materials, making it a long-term, low-cost, and safer large-scale energy storage technology, helping China achieve its dual carbon goals.

The company has built a battery production line with an annual production capacity of 100 megawatt hours, which can provide the market with liquid flow battery energy storage systems ranging from 10 kilowatts to megawatts. The production line has obtained ISO9001 international quality management system certification. At the same time, relying on the nearly 20 years of experience accumulated by the founder Dr. Xie Wei in the US liquid flow battery industry, the company has jointly developed new materials with better performance and lower costs with Professor Liu Suqin of Central South University, including loaded catalyst electrodes, non-fluorine ion exchange membranes, and new sulfur iron electrolytes. All of them have passed pilot verification and entered the mass production stage.

The company has been identified as a technology-based and innovative small and medium-sized enterprise. It has received two rounds of financing totaling tens of millions of yuan, and has been invested in by Sequoia China and Hidden Hills Capital. It has established operations and R&D production centers in Shenzhen and Changsha respectively. The Shenzhen Operation Center is responsible for energy storage industry research, system application design, technical and economic model development, energy storage market promotion, etc.; the Changsha R&D and Production Center is responsible for the R&D, testing and large-scale production of energy storage systems and materials.

The company's founder, Dr. Xie Wei, obtained a bachelor's and master's degree in materials from Tsinghua University and a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He led the development of diaphragms, electrodes and stacks at United Technologies Group, the largest fuel cell/flow battery company in the United States. He worked with DuPont and 3M to improve perfluorosulfonic acid proton exchange membranes and established Vionx Energy, the largest flow battery manufacturer in North America, through technology licensing. In more than ten years of research and development of flow batteries, Dr. Xie Wei has presided over several U.S. Department of Energy projects, including the high-power density all-vanadium flow battery project, which won the 2013 U.S. Annual 100 Best R&D Award. He has published nearly 20 international SCI journal papers and has more than 20 international invention patents and applications.

E-Fu Energy

Yi Fu Energy Technology (Guangdong) Co., Ltd. is a leading company in liquid flow battery energy storage systems. The company's R&D team comes from top domestic universities and R&D institutions such as Southern University of Science and Technology. It has more than 10 years of R&D accumulation in the field of liquid flow batteries and has independent core technologies and intellectual property rights. At present, the company has efficient and low-cost liquid flow battery stack technology and the stack structure is suitable for a variety of non-deposition liquid flow battery systems, which is highly competitive in the energy storage market. It is reported that Yi Fu Energy is also reserving some aqueous organic liquid flow battery electrolyte technology for stacks that are separated from the current metal resources.

In addition, Guangzhou Hi-Tech Zone Energy Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd. is conducting research on liquid flow batteries, and Dongguan Da Zinc Energy Co., Ltd. appears on the research list of some institutions, but in fact the zinc-based energy storage batteries developed and produced by the company are not liquid flow batteries.

Jilin

Zhongding New Energy/Zhongding Energy Storage/Tianding Energy Storage

The headquarters of Jilin Zhongding New Energy Group Co., Ltd. is located in Lvyuan Economic Development Zone, Changchun City, covering an area of ​​45,000 square meters. It is a national green factory and Jilin Province green factory. It is based on power equipment manufacturing, power engineering construction, power operation and maintenance services, and power market transactions. It integrates multi-energy complementary integrated energy technology, energy storage (cold, heat, electricity) high-efficiency energy-saving technology, photovoltaic power generation + energy storage battery technology, new energy vehicle charging station construction, and smart energy management platform construction. It is a comprehensive group with diversified operations.

Jilin Zhongding Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. was established in 2014 and integrates the research and development, production and sales of all-vanadium liquid flow battery energy storage systems. All-vanadium liquid flow batteries can be used in the following scenarios: large-scale new energy power station distribution storage, thermal power unit peak regulation, frequency regulation, valley peak use of large industrial and commercial entities, park source grid load storage, and distributed household energy storage in Europe. In 2021, the energy storage system technology upgrade and intelligent manufacturing construction project was established, and investment and construction of the project site were carried out; in 2022, all-vanadium liquid flow battery research and development equipment was introduced; in 2023, the all-vanadium liquid flow battery energy storage system was put into operation. In December 2023, the "Jilin Province Liquid Flow Energy Storage School-Enterprise Joint Technology Innovation Laboratory" jointly built by Jilin Zhongding Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. and Jilin University was approved for project construction.

On January 18, 2024, Anhui Weneng Motor Co., Ltd. and Jilin Taiding Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. signed a contract for the all-vanadium liquid flow battery energy storage power station project. It is understood that Taiding Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary of Jilin Zhongding New Energy Group Co., Ltd., mainly engaged in the research and development and production of all-vanadium liquid flow battery energy storage systems. The total investment of Taiding Energy Storage Technology's all-vanadium liquid flow battery energy storage power station project is 500 million yuan, and the first phase of the project is mainly for the production of all-vanadium liquid flow battery energy storage power station products.

Guizhou

Energy Century

Guizhou Juneng Century Technology Co., Ltd. was established in 2019. It is a high-tech enterprise dedicated to the research and development and industrial production of energy storage vanadium battery technology. It has internationally leading patented technologies and important achievements in high-performance perfluorinated ion membranes, high-activity electrodes, high-efficiency fuel cells, wide-temperature vanadium electrolytes and full-system modularization of vanadium batteries, and has huge product advantages.

Through independent research and development, the company has achieved the regeneration and recycling of perfluorinated ion membranes. The membranes have low cost, high crystallinity, large tensile modulus, isotropy, and long life, breaking the foreign monopoly in this market. The products have won unanimous praise from domestic and foreign customers.

The vanadium batteries produced by the company have the characteristics of high power density, high energy efficiency, wide electrolyte operating temperature, high degree of modularization, etc. The full life cycle cost is much lower than traditional batteries such as lead-acid and lithium batteries. It is a good choice for photovoltaic power generation, wind power generation, smart grid, valley power and peak power, communication base stations, backup power supplies, and electric vehicle fast charging.

Guizhou Zhixi

Guizhou Zhixi Technology Co., Ltd. is a key project signed by Honghuagang District in 2022. It is located in Yingtian Gonggu Industrial Park, Honghuagang District, Zunyi. It is wholly owned by Guangzhou Zhixi Technology Co., Ltd. and is mainly engaged in the research and development and industrial production of new energy storage vanadium battery technology. Its products are mainly used in the field of energy storage. It has independent innovative technology, has formed 15 international and domestic patents, and has the production and research and development capabilities of the entire industry chain of vanadium liquid flow battery energy storage. The first phase invested 310 million yuan.