In recent years, the pace of hydropower development has made steady progress and the toughness of development has increased. Hydropower generation does not consume mineral energy. The development of hydropower is conducive to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting the ecological environment, and improving the utilization of resources and the comprehensive interests of the economy and society. Under the background of carbon neutrality, the development prospects of the hydropower industry are still good for a long time.
Hydropower is one of the best power sources to achieve carbon neutrality
As a clean energy, hydropower does not produce any carbon emissions or pollution; As a renewable energy, as long as there is water, hydropower will be inexhaustible. At present, China is facing the important responsibility of carbon peaking and carbon neutralization. Hydropower is not only clean and emission free, but also environmentally friendly, and can participate in peak regulation. Hydropower is one of the best power sources to achieve carbon neutrality. Looking forward to the future, China’s hydropower will continue to play an important role in promoting the realization of the “double carbon” goal.
1. What does pumped storage make money on
China’s pumped storage power stations consume an average of 4 kilowatt hours of electricity and only generate 3 kilowatt hours of electricity after pumping, with an efficiency of only 75%.
The pumped storage power station pumps water when the load of the power grid is low, converts the electric energy into the potential energy of water, and stores it. When the load is high, it releases water to generate electricity. It is like a giant rechargeable treasure made of water.
In the process of pumping and generating, it is inevitable that there will be losses. On average, the pumped storage power station will consume 4 kwh of electricity for pumping every 3 kwh of electricity, with an average efficiency of about 75%.
Then the question comes: how much does it cost to build such a huge “rechargeable treasure”?
Yangjiang Pumped Storage Power Station is the largest pumped storage power station with the largest single unit capacity, the highest net head and the largest buried depth in China. It is equipped with the first set of 400000 kW pumped storage units with a head of 700 meters independently developed and manufactured in China, with a planned installed capacity of 2.4 million KW.
It is understood that the Yangjiang Pumped Storage Power Station project has a total investment of 7.627 billion yuan and will be constructed in two phases. The designed annual power generation is 3.6 billion kwh, and the annual pumping power consumption is 4.8 billion kwh.
Yang storage power station is not only an economic way to solve the seasonal peak load of Guangdong power grid, but also an important means to improve the utilization efficiency and safety level of nuclear power and Western power, develop new energy and cooperate with the safe and stable operation of nuclear power. It has important and positive significance to ensure the stable, safe and economic operation of Guangdong power grid and networking system and improve the safety and reliability of power grid operation.
Due to the problem of energy loss, the pumped storage power station uses much more electricity than the power generation, that is to say, from the perspective of energy, the pumped storage power station must lose money.
However, the economic benefits of pumped storage power stations do not depend on its power generation, but on its role of peak shaving and valley filling.
Power generation at peak power consumption and pumped storage at low power consumption can avoid startup and shutdown of many thermal power plants, thus avoiding huge economic losses during startup and shutdown of thermal power plants. The pumped storage power station also has other functions such as frequency modulation, phase modulation and black start.
The charging methods of pumped storage power stations in different regions are different. Some adopt the capacity lease fee system, and some regions adopt the two-part electricity price system. In addition to the capacity lease fee, profits can also be realized through the peak valley electricity price difference.
2. New pumped storage projects in 2022
Since the beginning of the year, the signing and commencement of pumped storage projects have been constantly reported: on January 30, the Wuhai pumped storage power station project with an investment of more than 8.6 billion yuan and an installed capacity of 1.2 million kilowatts was approved and approved by the Energy Bureau of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region; On February 10, the Xiaofeng River Pumped Storage Power Station project with a total investment of 7 billion yuan and 1.2 million kilowatts was signed in Wuhan and settled in Yiling, Hubei; On February 10, SDIC power company and the people’s Government of Hejin City, Shanxi Province signed an investment cooperation agreement on Pumped Storage Power Station projects, which plans to develop 1.2 million kilowatt pumped storage projects; On February 14, the commencement ceremony of Hubei Pingyuan pumped storage power station with a total installed capacity of 1.4 million kilowatts was held in Luotian, Hubei
According to incomplete statistics, since 2021, more than 100 million kilowatts of pumped storage projects have made important progress. Among them, the State Grid and China Southern Power Grid have exceeded 24.7 million kilowatts, becoming the main force in the construction of pumped storage projects.
At present, pumped storage has become one of the key areas of the layout of the two major power grid companies during the 14th Five Year Plan period. Among the pumped storage power stations that have been put into operation in China, the State Grid Xinyuan under the State Grid Corporation and the South grid peak shaving and frequency modulation company under the South Grid Corporation account for the main shares.
In September last year, Xin Baoan, director of the State Grid, publicly stated that the State Grid plans to invest as much as 350 billion US dollars (about 2 trillion yuan) in the next five years to promote the transformation and upgrading of the power grid. By 2030, the installed capacity of pumped storage in China will be increased from the current 23.41 million kilowatts to 100 million kilowatts.
In October last year, Meng Zhenping, chairman of China Southern Power Grid Corporation and Secretary of the party leading group, announced at the mobilization meeting for the construction of pumped storage power stations in the five provinces and regions in the south that the construction of pumped storage power stations would be accelerated. In the next 10 years, 21 million kilowatts of pumped storage power stations would be completed and put into operation. At the same time, the construction of 15 million kilowatts of pumped storage power planned to be put into operation during the 16th Five Year Plan period would be started. The total investment would be about 200 billion yuan, which could meet the access and consumption of about 250 million kilowatts of new energy in the five provinces and regions in the South.
While actively drawing a grand blueprint, the two major power grid companies reorganized their pumped storage assets.
In November last year, State Grid Corporation of China transferred all 51.54% equity of State Grid Xinyuan Holding Co., Ltd. to State Grid Xinyuan Group Co., Ltd. for free, and integrated its pumped storage assets. In the future, State Grid Xinyuan Group Co., Ltd. will become a platform company of State Grid pumped storage business.
On February 15, Yunnan Wenshan Electric Power, which is mainly engaged in hydropower generation, announced that it planned to purchase 100% equity of China Southern power grid peak shaving and frequency modulation power generation Co., Ltd. held by China Southern Power Grid Co., Ltd. through asset replacement and share issuance. According to the previous announcement, Wenshan power will become a listed company platform for the pumped storage business of China Southern Power Grid.
“Pumped storage is currently recognized as the most mature, reliable, clean and economical energy storage means in the world. It can also provide the necessary moment of inertia for the power system and ensure the stable operation of the system. It is an important support for the new power system with new energy as the main body. Compared with other existing peak shaving and energy storage measures, it has greater comprehensive advantages.” Peng CAIDE, chief engineer of Sinohydro, pointed out.
Obviously, the best way to improve the capacity of the power grid to accept new energy is to build pumped storage or electrochemical energy storage. However, from the technical point of view, the most economical and effective energy storage mode in the current power grid is pumped storage. This is also the consensus of the current international community.
The reporter learned that at present, the design and manufacture of pumping and storage units in China have basically realized localization, and the technology is mature. The future investment cost is expected to be maintained at about 6500 yuan / kW. Although the cost per kilowatt of peak shaving capacity for the flexible transformation of coal power can be as low as 500-1500 yuan, the peak shaving capacity obtained by the flexible transformation of coal power per kilowatt is only about 20%. This means that the flexible transformation of coal power needs to obtain a peak shaving capacity of 1kW, and the actual investment is about 2500-7500 yuan.
“In the medium and long term, pumped storage is the most economical energy storage technology. The pumped storage power station is a flexible power source that meets the needs of the new power system and has better economy.” Some people in the industry emphasized to the reporter.
With the gradual increase of investment, continuous technological breakthroughs and the accelerated implementation of projects, the pumped storage industry will usher in a leap forward development.
In September last year, the National Energy Administration issued the medium and long term development plan for pumped storage (2021-2035) (hereinafter referred to as the plan), which proposed that by 2025, the total scale of pumped storage capacity put into operation would double that of the 13th five year plan, reaching more than 62 million kilowatts; By 2030, the total scale of pumped storage capacity put into operation will double that of the 14th five year plan, reaching about 120 million kilowatts.
As an essential part of the construction of new power system, it is expected that the construction progress of pumped storage, a subdivision of energy storage, may exceed the expectation.
During the “14th five year plan” period, the annual new installed capacity of pumped storage will reach about 6 million kilowatts, and the “15th five year plan” will further increase to 12 million kilowatts. According to the past data, the annual new installed capacity of pumped storage is only about 2 million kilowatts. Based on the average investment scale of 5000 yuan per kilowatt, the annual new investment scale during the “14th five year plan” and “15th five year plan” will reach about 20 billion yuan and 50 billion yuan respectively.
The “pumped storage transformation of conventional hydropower stations” mentioned in the plan is also very important. The hybrid pumped storage transformed from conventional hydropower stations often has low operating costs and obvious advantages in serving new energy consumption and new power system construction, which should be paid attention to.
Post time: Aug-15-2022
