IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - September/October 2017 - 53

imposed by growing levels of abundant solar resources in the
Hawaiian grid.
On the national scale, the U.S. annual energy storage
market grew 243% in 2015 (the largest growth on record)
and is projected to reach 1.5 GW by 2020, with a value of
US$2.5 billion. As of mid-2015, there were more than 21 GW
of operational energy storage in the United States, mainly
in the form of pumped-storage hydropower, but a growing number of new storage installations are dominated by
lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery technologies. In 2016, the U.S.
Senate passed the Grid Modernization Act, which started a
comprehensive, nationwide effort to help shape the future of
the U.S. electric grid and solve the challenges of integrating
conventional and renewable sources with energy storage and
smart grid technologies.

EES Technologies Strategic Planning in China
The pace of EES technology development in China is relatively slow compared to that of the United States. Most EES
technologies are still in the phase of research, development,
and demonstration, and presently there is no explicit goal
for the scale of EES in China. But national policies have
continually encouraged EES, and the policy environment in
China related to EES technologies can be discussed within
two general periods.
The first period is prior to 2016, when EES was mentioned in many national energy policies, but no explicit policies for EES had been released. For example, the Guidance
Catalogue for Industrial Structure Adjustment (2011) listed
large-capacity EES as one technology encouraged by the
state, along with power batteries, storage batteries, and battery materials; however, there were no incentive measures,
such as funding, to encourage its development. In the Energy
Development Strategy Action Plan 2014-2020 (2014), China
proposed nine key innovation areas and 20 key innovation
directions, and EES is listed in both. To help alleviate the
serious curtailment of wind, solar, and hydropower in China,
the plan proposed coordinating generation and the electric
grid to include EES.
These polices helped bring about the steady development of
energy storage in China. According to the China Energy Storage Alliance, the cumulative EES capacity reached 22.85 GW
by the end of 2015, which is a 34% increase compared to
the 2010 level. Pumped hydropower represented almost the
entire amount at 99.5%, but electrochemical energy storage
had increased rapidly-from a capacity of 2.4 MW in 2010 to
141.4 MW in 2015.
The second period of policy development began in 2016,
with EES becoming an increasingly important element in
many of China's national energy policies. The Guidance
of Promoting Internet Plus Smart Energy Development
(February 2016) proposes that developing integrated and
distributed EES is a key aspect in overall energy development. Various types of distributed EES are proposed in the
community, commercial buildings, and residential areas that
september/october 2017

will be integrated and managed through the Internet. The
plan also encourages power exchange in local areas among
industries and residents that have on-site distributed generation, electrical demand, and EES.
China's 13th Five-Year Plan (March 2016) states that the
country will vigorously promote the innovation and industrialization of emerging industry related to new energy, including energy-efficient storage, distributed energy systems, and
intelligent transportation. In China's Energy Technology
Revolution Innovation Action Plan 2016-2030 (March 2016),
EES is listed as a key supporting technology for low-carbon
energy and the "Energy Internet." In addition, advanced EES
technology breakthroughs are listed as one of the 15 most
important innovations. Research will be conducted on applications of EES in electric grid load shifting and area energy
supply as well as in renewable energy integration, microgrids,
and electric vehicles.
The Guidance for Promoting Electrification (May 2016)
recommends using more electricity instead of burning coal
or fossil fuels in four areas: district heating in the northern
provinces, manufacturing, transportation, and power supply
and consumption. For power supply and consumption, EES
is proposed as an important approach to provide ancillary
services, improve renewable generation integration, and thus
reduce the consumption of fossil-fueled energy.
In June 2016, the Chinese National Energy Administration issued its Notice on Pilots of Promoting the Participation
of Electrical Energy Storage in the Ancillary Services Compensation Mechanism in the Three-North Region of China
(northeast, northwest, and north China). The notice proposes
the construction of five pilot programs to allow EES to provide
ancillary service compensation. The power plants, electricitysale enterprises, and electrical customers in the Three-North
Region were encouraged to invest in EES. For the first time,
an EES system was considered a market player; its capacity
on the power generation side was specified to be larger than
10 MW, and its duration time was required to be longer than
4 h. More importantly, tariffs were proposed for EES providing ancillary services.
Also in June 2016, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the document Energy Equipment
Implementation Scheme by 2025 in China. This document
listed energy storage equipment as one of 15 key energy equipment technologies, including pumped storage, compressed-air
energy storage, flywheel energy storage, flow batteries, Li-ion
batteries, and supercapacitors. It also put forward the need for
finding breakthroughs in new electrode material, electrolyte
materials, and supercapacitor technologies; establishing vanadium BESSs; and developing lead-carbon batteries with long
life and low costs.
At the end of 2015, the cumulative EES capacity in China
reached 22.85 GW, with 22.71 GW of pumped hydropower
accounting for 99.4%, 141.1 MW of electrochemical energy
storage accounting for 0.6%, and 1.5 MW of compressed air
energy storage. In electrochemical energy storage, Li-ion
ieee power & energy magazine

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - September/October 2017