Why are the prices of lithium battery energy storage systems so different? From what perspective and thinking should we look at this issue?

　　With the accelerated implementation of the global carbon reduction roadmap, lithium battery energy storage systems in various countries have also entered a peak procurement period. SES Power has nearly 20 years of experience in R&D and manufacturing of lithium batteries. Many of our products are used in energy storage scenarios, so we have a good understanding of the price of energy storage systems. However, recently, the winning bid price per watt-hour of energy storage system equipment in different projects varies greatly. Taking the energy storage system with a charging and discharging time of 2 hours as an example, the winning bid price is distributed at about 0.2 US dollars/Wh-0.3 US dollars/Wh. This is an abnormal situation, because under the background of high raw material prices and high battery cell prices at this stage, there are many low-cost bids for energy storage system equipment, and the winning prices vary greatly, which is puzzling and also causes the worry: quality is often proportional to price.

　　We need to understand the following background: Since the current energy storage projects are mainly arranged outdoors, the procurement scope of bidding energy storage projects generally includes energy storage battery compartments and energy storage converter transformers complete sets of equipment, among which the energy storage battery compartments include battery modules, BMS, firefighting facilities, cooling facilities, combiner cabinets, auxiliary facilities, cabins, etc.; complete sets of energy storage converter transformer equipment include PCS, transformers, medium-voltage switchgear, auxiliary facilities, cabins, etc.; some projects also include station electricity systems, EMS systems, connecting cables, etc.

　　There are many energy storage application scenarios, and the technical routes are also very diverse. Different projects have large differences in charging and discharging time, equipment brands and equipment procurement scope, resulting in large differences in price levels. SES Power analyzes only three main factors affecting the price of energy storage system equipment from a technical point of view.

　　A: Differences in batteries lead to differences in device prices

　　The energy storage battery is the equipment with the highest proportion of the price of the energy storage system. At present, the price of different brands of batteries is about 0.13 US dollars/Wh. Due to the different assessment methods of the charging and discharging energy of the energy storage system, the number of charging and discharging, and the energy retention rate, resulting in a large difference in the final energy of the actual configuration of different projects.

　　For example, for an energy storage power station of the same scale, the assessment point has different definitions according to cell energy, DC side output energy, PCS AC side output energy, grid connection point output energy, etc. In addition, the battery will generate energy during the charging and discharging process and in its natural state. The permanent attenuation of the battery, the different assessment methods of the number of charge and discharge and the energy attenuation rate will cause the actual configuration of the cell to have an impact. For example, many new energy sources are equipped with energy storage to reduce the initial investment cost by reducing the number of cells.

　　B: Energy storage technology routes lead to differences in equipment prices

　　In the past two years, energy storage technology has developed rapidly, and new technologies such as large-capacity cells, 1500V DC systems, liquid cooling systems, and non-walk-in battery compartments have emerged one after another. While improving the performance of energy storage systems, rapidly mature new technologies are also effective. It reduces the cost of energy storage system equipment.

　　For example, the output energy of the battery compartment (walk-in) DC side of the conventional 1000V DC system is about 2.5MWh, the output energy of the battery compartment (walk-in) DC side of the 1500V DC system is about 3.5MWh, and the battery compartment of the 1500V DC system is about 3.5MWh. (Non-walk-in) DC side output energy can be close to about 5MWh. The increase in energy density will reduce the cost of BMS, fire protection, auxiliary facilities, cabins, etc. Compared with the PCS of the 1000V technical route, the PCS unit cost of the 1500V technical route is also reduced by about 50%.

　　C: Differences in equipment prices caused by the configuration of auxiliary facilities

　　Differences in the configuration of auxiliary systems such as firefighting and station load power supply methods will also affect the price. Taking fire protection as an example, the price difference between perfluorohexanone and heptafluoropropane is very large, and the price difference for a single cabin can reach about 30,000 US dollars; many projects supply power to the load of the energy storage unit by configuring auxiliary transformers on the AC side of the PCS. Setting up an independent station power system can also reduce the cost of equipment; selecting non-energy-saving transformers and reducing the configuration of AC and DC side switchgear are all means to reduce the initial investment of the energy storage system.

　　SES Power believes that reducing the cost of energy storage is an important prerequisite for promoting the commercialization and large-scale application of energy storage. However, for project construction units, they should not only pay attention to the initial investment price of the energy storage system, but also pay attention to the real performance of the energy storage system itself. Partners should comprehensively consider performance, safety, price and other comprehensive factors, and finally consider the most cost-effective and safe and reliable energy storage products from the perspective of the whole life cycle.

　　As a rapidly developing field, energy storage has been endowed with an indispensable position in the future new power system by the times. SES Power focuses on customized lithium batteries. Our focus is on lithium battery energy storage systems, such as 12V100Ah, 12V200Ah, 24V100Ah, 24V200Ah, 36V100Ah, 48V50Ah, 48V100Ah and other lead-acid replacements using square aluminum-shell lithium iron phosphate cells , Wall-mounted home energy storage, portable home energy storage, 12V30Ah, 12V50Ah, 12V60Ah car starter batteries with high-performance lithium batteries (maximum peak current up to 1500A), lithium battery systems normally used in -40 ℃ environment and other special customized lithium batteries. Frankly speaking, many customers are very concerned about cost performance, but SES Power insists that safety performance cannot be reduced to reduce costs. We usually use the price advantage of echelon batteries to make SES Power's customized lithium-ion battery packs based on guaranteed performance, to meet the needs of customers who are discerning enough about price. Of course, this requires extensive experience as a support.

　　Due to the initial stage of development of the energy storage system and the complexity of the technology itself, although the relevant standards are being gradually improved, the standards lag behind the market, the existence of fuzzy boundaries and the lack of profit mechanisms make many projects excessively compress the energy storage system. The initial investment cost, which will make the industry fall into a disorderly price war, and eventually form a situation where bad money drives out good money. This is not a situation that SES Power and its high-quality suppliers, which are really focused on energy storage, want to see.