The era of stream energy storage has come, INPOWER think-tank to“Hard Core” boost program to cast the cornerstone of long-term energy storage

With the increasing penetration of renewable energy, the demand for long-term, large-capacity and high-security energy storage in power system is becoming more and more urgent. Recently, the state has clearly supported the implementation of capacity pricing for new types of grid-side independent energy storage, and particularly encouraged the development of long-term energy storage technologies that continue to discharge for more than four hours. This indicates that the energy storage industry is moving from“Scale construction” to a new stage of“Value creation”, and the unique advantages of flow batteries, with their intrinsic safety, ultra-long life, decoupling of power and capacity, are becoming increasingly important, this is a historic opportunity.

In this context, the successful grid-connection of Changyang 50MW four-hour vanadium redox flow energy storage power station in Yichang is not only a project landing, but also an industry vane. INPOWER is honoured to be a key supplier for this project and will take this opportunity to demonstrate our specialised boost and converter solutions for long-term energy storage systems.

What PCS will be needed to crack the long-term storage conundrum?

The operating characteristics of long-term energy storage power station, especially the flow battery system, are significantly different from the common lithium battery energy storage.

1. It emphasizes: continuous, stable bi-directional power flow: converter in the long-term charge and discharge process to maintain extremely high efficiency and reliability.

2. Precise 0V pre-charge coordination: PCS work closely with BMS to ensure a smooth stack build-up from zero voltage, protecting core assets from the source.

3. Smooth AC soft start grid connection: using advanced grid connection algorithm to achieve“Non-impact flexible connection” with the power grid, minimizing the disturbance to the power grid, reflecting the wisdom and sense of responsibility as the core of the system.

4. Deep and friendly interaction with the power grid: it needs to respond to scheduling instructions in milliseconds and has strong fault ride-through capability to support the stability of the main network.

INPOWER's 35KV booster pod and core PCS for this project are the answer to these challenges.

INPOWER's solution: not just grid connection, but“Enabling”

In this project, we have deeply matched the technical characteristics of the flow battery to provide customized system support: precisely matched power cells, we have configured boost one-piece cabins of different capacities, and we have built a custom-built power supply for the flow battery, this flexible combination perfectly adapts to the architectural requirements of multiple energy storage units in the power plant, and realizes the fine management and scheduling of power.

The heart PCS are our flagship technology, optimized for medium to large energy storage systems

1. Extreme Efficiency: the use of advanced three-level topology, maximum efficiency of 99% , significantly reducing the whole life cycle loss.

2. Super Grid Adaptability: full support for high/low voltage ride through and zero voltage ride through, to ensure that the power station in the complex grid environment“Withstand, not off the grid.”.

3. Intelligent Response: charge-discharge conversion and power response time is less than 20ms, as a quick response of the“Power regulator”, precise execution of source network load storage all kinds of scheduling instructions.

Industry status: from participant to standard promoter

The Yichang Project is INPOWER's first benchmark project in the field of large-scale energy storage for flow batteries. Its successful integration into the grid not only demonstrates the advanced nature of our product and technology roadmap, but also indicates that we have a comprehensive ability to provide core grid access solutions for a variety of mainstream and emerging energy storage technologies.

As a professional energy storage converter and smart energy solutions provider, INPOWER smart storage always adhere to independent research and development and technological innovation. Our product matrix has fully covered various application scenarios from centralized to string-based, and continues to lead the development of next-generation energy storage technologies, including grid-building technologies.

Work together to build a new ecology of long-term energy storage

Looking to the future, INPOWER smart will continue its mission of“Developing efficient and reliable energy storage and microgrid solutions, driven by power electronics technology innovation, to help optimize the global energy mix and the in-depth deployment of renewable energy, promote a clean and low-carbon transition, and enable a sustainable future”, we continue to cultivate energy storage converter technology to provide safer, more efficient and more economical energy storage solutions for global customers and help the global energy transformation.