C&I (Commercial and Industrial) Energy Storage System is Emerging

From 2021, the global electricity price peak and trough will be gradually revealed, making C&I energy storage economically viable, although the high cost of the main material, lithium carbonate, means that C&I energy storage projects have been few and far between. This year, C&I energy storage has seen explosive growth as the price of lithium carbonate has fallen, reducing the cost of the main material for energy storage batteries by around 10%.

What is C&I Energy Storage?

The current C&I ESS is mainly through the "low price of electricity when charging, the high price of electricity when discharging", for enterprises to save electricity costs.?It provides a reliable and efficient energy reserve and supply system for demand-side users in the C&I sectors by improving energy stability, reducing energy costs, coping with energy volatility, and protecting the environment.

The economics of the C&I ESS can also be correspondingly improved after the expansion of the electricity price difference during peak and off-peak periods.?Industrial parks, port shore power, charging and switching, distribution stations, mining, etc. are the main application scenarios for C&I energy storage. At present, industrial parks are the main application scenarios.

What's the Status Quo?

The economy has already started to bear fruit in C&I energy storage. At present, there are 22 provinces in China's C&I energy storage have been initially economic, according to statistics from the Zhongguancun Energy Storage Industry and Technology Alliance. In particular, in Zhejiang, Guangdong, and other places, every day two peaks and valleys can do "two charges two put", and its expected payback cycle has been between 3 - 4 years.

Is it Feasible to Seek a Growth Path from Overseas Markets?

Overseas market demand is strong, mainly concentrated in the Household + C&I side. At present, the European electricity prices are high, the economics of household energy storage is greatly improved, and the household energy storage installed willingness to greatly improve. CICC predicts that the global demand for energy storage is expected to exceed 189GWh this year, with China, the United States, and Europe as the three major markets.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicts that the world will invest US$262 billion to deploy 345GW/999GWh of new energy storage systems over the next ten years and that the cumulative global deployment of new energy storage systems will reach 358GW/1028GWh by 2030. Installed energy storage will grow by more than 50% in some countries and regions. China and the US together account for around 54% of the cumulative global installed energy storage capacity in 2030.

Conclusion

Economy first, C&I energy storage will also have a large potential market.

CITIC Securities believes that, with the domestic peak-to-valley price difference, industrial chain price decrease, around the subsidy policy to increase and demand-side response, and other profit models gradually landing under the good catalyst, the domestic C&I energy storage project yield will be a significant increase in the endogenous economy. This is expected to promote the market to achieve accelerated growth and is expected to have domestic C&I energy storage installed capacity in 2023 or more than 3GWh. Thus, the industrial chain enterprises are expected to profit deeply.