At the Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality Technology Forum on the 2021 Zhongguancun Forum, Prof. Du Xiangwan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said the cost of electrochemical energy storage may have reached the inflection point. He predicted that the cost of energy storage would be reduced by one third in the next five years, and 66-80% in the next 10 years.
He added that the fast expansion of electric vehicles is conducive to energy conservation and energy storage. He quoted the Energy Conservation and New Energy Roadmap report and pointed out that by 2040, China will have about 300 million EVs, each storing about 65 kWh of energy. The total energy storage capacity of on-board batteries will reach about 20 billion kWh, which is equivalent to the total amount of electricity currently consumed per day.
The energy conserved through storage will offset the cost of storage devices, and energy storage is likely to become a new growth engine for the economy, said Du. It is estimated that by 2025, the size of renewable energy+storage market will reach 100 billion yuan.
He also mentioned that energy electrification and low-carbonization of electric power are prominent trends. They are the basis for the transition from industrial civilization to ecological civilization. Digital technology upgrades the power grid to the Internet of Energy. The Internet of Energy connects energy production and consumption, and realizes the rapid response of the energy system and real-time load balancing.
