Production capacity and technology competition of 50-100Ah energy storage battery

February 11, 2023

In 2022, the demand of the terminal market represented by household energy storage broke out, which led to a big increase in the demand for small and medium capacity cells of 50-100Ah.

With the high demand for household storage downstream, the supply of 50-100Ah energy storage battery capacity is insufficient, many storage all-in-one enterprises can not fully purchase small capacity batteries even by cash delivery, and the bargaining power of the industry chain is transferred from the downstream to the upstream as a whole. Energy storage system integration enterprises reduce the risk of battery supply by locking the production line in advance, signing long orders, strategic cooperation, industrial investment and other multiple ways.

Under the dual blessing of market stimulus and capital injection, battery enterprises accelerate to the road of fund-raising and production expansion, and compete in all directions from the aspects of technology, products, market, cost, efficiency and so on.

Multiple application scenarios, 50-100Ah cell shortage.

According to the shape of the product, the energy storage battery is mainly classified into square, cylindrical and soft package batteries, and according to capacity, there are mainly 50Ah, 100Ah, 150Ah, 200Ah and 280Ah models, in which 50Ah and 100Ah are mainly used for household storage, while 150Ah, 200Ah and 280Ah are mainly used for large storage.

50-100Ah battery can be used in household energy storage, communication energy storage, industrial and commercial energy storage, electric energy storage, specific application scenarios include communication base stations, data centers, school and hospital public facilities, mobile charger, household optical storage, rail transit, low-speed electric vehicles, portable emergency power supply and so on.

Household energy storage (including Portable Energy Storage) is mainly used for peak-valley price difference arbitrage, power spontaneous self-use, etc., surpassing communication power reserve for the first time in 2022 to become the second largest energy storage shipping field, the mainstream battery product capacity is 50Ah, 100Ah.

Household energy storage broke out overseas in 2022, and the industry ushered in a golden period of development. According to GGII research, the value of China's household energy storage industry chain increased to 40 billion yuan in 2022. Shipments of household energy storage batteries in China in 2022 were 25GWh, an increase of 354.5 percent over the same period last year, and portable energy storage shipments were 4GWh, an increase of 207.7 percent over the same period last year.

Compared with power and large storage, the requirements of battery technology for household energy storage are relatively relaxed. The requirements for cell performance in household scenarios are relatively relaxed, with emphasis on safety and cost reduction. Due to the influence of multiple factors such as production line, system group efficiency and cost reduction space, the supply of household energy storage battery in 2022 is seriously insufficient, and its shortage is even higher than that of electric energy storage 280Ah battery.

The scale of the household energy storage system is at the 10kWh level, mainly with small cells below 100Ah. The household energy storage core scheme mainly includes square, large cylinder and soft package, in which the single capacity of large cylinder is in 10Ah-50Ah, square 50Ah-300Ah, soft package 30Ah-80Ah, and the packaging route has not yet been finalized.2022 main capacity models of domestic household energy storage lithium batteries.

Shape.

System.

Capacity.

Cylindrical Battery.

LFP.

10~50Ah.

Square battery.

LFP.

50Ah . 100Ah.

Soft package battery.

LFP.

30-100Ah.

Data source: public information, high-tech industry, research and finishing, March 2022.

Communication energy storage mainly refers to the standby power supply of communication base stations such as 4G/5G, which is used to prevent power outage and defect accidents from causing network paralysis and interruption risk to the communication system. The main product models of single battery are 50Ah and 100Ah square and soft-clad iron Lithium Battery. According to GGII research, shipments of communication energy storage batteries reached 9GWh in 2022, down 25% from the same period last year.

Main capacity models of domestic communication energy storage lithium battery.

Shape.

Craftsmanship.

System.

Capacity.

Square battery.

Winding.

LFP.

50Ah . 100Ah.

Soft package battery.

Laminated sheet.

LFP.

50Ah . 100Ah.

Data source: public information, high engineering industry, research and finishing, October 2022.

Electric energy storage (including industrial and commercial energy storage) is the largest field of energy storage and shipment, and the mainstream battery capacity is 100/200/280Ah. At present, large cells above 200Ah have become the mainstream choice of domestic centralized and industrial and commercial user side energy storage systems. Almost all domestic electric energy storage battery enterprises adopt square lithium iron phosphate line, among which sea-based new energy mainly uses 120/280Ah model and Kunyu power supply mainly uses 100/280/300Ah model.

Production capacity of small capacity battery & technology competition.

Under the background of insufficient production capacity of small capacity energy storage battery below 100Ah, the industrial chain is breaking the situation from two directions. The first is to explore the use of large cell scheme (120-280Ah) to build household storage system architecture, such as honeycomb 184Ah blade battery home storage system application. However, from the point of view of the demand characteristics of end customers and the constraints of market management policies, small capacity cells such as 50Ah are still the mainstream choice for household storage cells in the short and medium term.

The second is the industrial chain enterprises around small capacity cell capacity planning expansion, in order to meet the procurement needs of downstream customers. For example, the domestic storage head enterprise Pai Neng Technology 2022H1 raised 5 billion yuan to invest in part of the 10GWh lithium battery R & D and manufacturing base project. Household energy storage will set off a small-capacity battery investment in the domestic lithium battery industry in the next 2-3 years.

According to GGII data, the global household storage scale is expected to exceed 15GWh in 2022, an increase of more than 134% over the same period last year. It is optimistically estimated that the global installed scale is expected to reach 100GWh in 2025.

On the supply side, the number of enterprises pouring into the household storage track has also soared several times. BYD, Penghui Energy, Xineng an, Parergy Technology, Haichen Energy Storage, Zhongtian Technology, far East Battery and other enterprises with earlier card positions have mostly achieved a double increase in revenue and profits in the field of energy storage in 2022.

Among them, the shipments of Penghui Energy, Xinneng an and Paineng Technology exceeded 2GWh in 2022, with a growth rate of 500,000% for Penghui Energy, and 100,300% for Xinneng an and PaiNeng Technology.

The homogenization competition of household storage track is fierce, so it is very important to build the core competitiveness of products from the aspects of cell, module, system and so on.

On the one hand, the high-voltage product platform is an important trend in the development of household storage products. Small-capacity batteries below 100Ah have obvious application advantages in high-voltage system architecture. Small-capacity batteries can obtain higher system voltage through series, with greater performance-to-price advantage, and small cell products come to market earlier, and the scheme is more mature.

On the other hand, the cycle of household storage battery will reach more than 6000 times, and the rate will reach 1C charge and discharge. The next generation of household storage battery will be a longer cycle, higher rate product model.

Battery manufacturers such as far East Battery, Yijiatong, Haichen Energy Storage, Yiwei Energy Storage, Ningde Times, BYD Energy Storage, Penghui Energy, Zhongtian Energy Storage, Kexin cohesion and other battery manufacturers have released special batteries for household side energy storage.Among them, Penghui Energy mainly has square, cylindrical and soft package batteries, square energy storage cells are mainly classified according to capacity there are 50Ah, 100Ah, 150Ah, 280Ah models, of which 50Ah and 100Ah are mainly used for household storage. At the same time, Penghui energy differentiation competition, the launch of 50Ah/100Ah square portable energy storage battery, has won Zhenghao technology portable energy storage box order. At the same time, the 40135 electrodeless ear large cylindrical battery developed by Penghui is suitable for two-wheelers, portable energy storage and household energy storage and other fields. It is reported that this product has been ordered by the bull.

Ruipu Lanjun released the household energy storage cell of 72Ah and 100Ah. On the basis of 4000 cycles of the previous generation of 50Ah, it reached 72Ah after capacity upgrading and realized a leap of 6000 cycles. And Ruipu Lanjun's new 100Ah battery can achieve 20-year cycle. It is reported that the series is expected to be mass produced in 2023.

Far East battery 50Ah LFP cell products, using high stable cathode + fast charge graphite + long life electrolyte, long cycle life ≥ 8000 times, excellent performance such as low temperature, double charge and double discharge, can meet the needs of various use scenarios. By October 2022, far East shares have won the bid / signed orders for household energy storage of more than 10 million yuan and more than 870 million yuan, and have been notified by European importers of household energy storage systems and other products, and it is expected to supply 15000-20, 000 sets in 2023.

Zhongtian Energy Storage launched "LFP Love Family Source" 50Ah/100Ah household energy storage series of square iron lithium batteries in November 2022, with a cycle life of more than 6000 times and a service life of more than 10 years. Zhongtian Energy Storage has completed the 2GWh household energy storage cell production line, and the battery products are officially opened for delivery around the world.

The first phase of the project enters the household storage market with the world's first 2U-100Ah battery. Its 2U-100Ah lithium iron phosphate cell uses an ultra-thin design. Compared with traditional 3U and 4U batteries, 2U is no more than 10cm in thickness, which can save 33% of the installation space, achieve higher installation power with less space, and increase the volume energy density of the battery system. At present, Kexin Jili has 1GWh's 100Ah, 150Ah cell production capacity.

Tianchen New Energy, a subsidiary of Black Sesame, plans to build square lithium iron phosphate battery production bases in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province and Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province at the same time, which will form the annual production capacity of 15.2GWh300Ah battery and 3.9GWh100Ah battery. Tianchen New Energy plans to focus on the production of 50AH, 100AH, 300AH and other energy storage lithium battery products, covering distributed household energy storage, generation-side energy storage and grid-side energy storage applications.

Household energy storage end, mainly 100Ah, 50Ah square aluminum shell battery. However, 40 and 46 series large Cylindrical Batteries will also become one of the important choices for household energy storage battery races. In addition, sodium batteries and lithium-sulfur batteries are seeking to store energy and accelerate the process of industrialization.

Enterprises represented by Penghui Energy, Haichen Energy Storage and Chuneng New Energy are actively exploring the feasibility of the application of large cylindrical batteries, and are expected to ship in bulk in 2023.

Haichen Energy Storage launched a large cylindrical household energy storage battery in August 2022, the highest energy density is greater than 150Wh/kg, the cycle life is more than 5000 times, the product specification covers 4680-46300, the capacity can be customized in 10Ah~50Ah, and global delivery will begin in the first quarter of 2023. In May 2022, the M1 intelligent factory of the first phase of Haichen energy storage lithium battery intelligent manufacturing project, with an annual capacity of 15GW, is used to produce diversified energy storage cells such as 25Ah, 50Ah, 280Ah, etc. In June 2022, Haichen energy storage 50Ah energy storage battery production line was successfully put into production.

Yiwei LiNeng also launched 18650 and 21700 cylindrical cells, and also released a "π" battery system based on large cylindrical cells. In terms of product structure, Yiwei Lithium can continue to force in the direction of large cylinders in recent years. Yiwei Lithium Energy 20GWh large cylindrical battery factory in Jingmen, Hubei Province is about to be completed, and the first generation 46 series large Cylindrical Lithium Battery will be mass produced.

In the aspect of 60 series large cylindrical lithium iron phosphate, time has jointly developed 50Ah and 100Ah series batteries, which have the advantages of high capacity, low internal resistance, low temperature rise, high rate, long life and high safety on the basis of high specific energy and high consistency.

Generally speaking, cylindrical, square and soft package product packaging systems have their own advantages and characteristics in the field of household energy storage, and they will form a pattern of mutual complement and mutual support in the short and medium term, rather than a dominant situation.

Author:

Mr. Alvin

E-mail:

alvin@lr-power.com

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8618620311301