What are the successful cases of combining PV and energy storage in China and overseas?

Example of combining photovoltaic and energy storage system

Against the backdrop of accelerated transformation of the global energy structure, the deep integration of PV and energy storage systems is becoming an important force in promoting energy transformation. Photovoltaic power generation is intermittent and unstable, and the introduction of energy storage technology effectively improves its power utilization efficiency and power supply stability, especially in peak shaving and valley filling, micro-grids, autonomous energy supply and other scenarios play a huge role.

Chinese PV companies have built a series of benchmark PV+storage integration projects at home and abroad by virtue of their technological accumulation and globalization layout, and Brice Solar will take a look at some representative PV+storage success stories from both Chinese and overseas perspectives, showing the latest trends and practical achievements of the industry.

Cases of combining PV and energy storage in China

1. PV + Energy Storage Demonstration Project in Gonghe County, Qinghai Province, China

Qinghai Republic County Photovoltaic Energy Storage Project

The PV+Energy Storage Project in Gonghe County, Hainan Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China, is a key demonstration project supported by the National Energy Administration (NEA). The total installed capacity of the project is 500MW of PV and 200MWh of energy storage, using lithium iron phosphate battery system.

Highlights:

Utilizing the abundant light resources of the Tibetan Plateau, the project has achieved an average annual utilization of more than 1,700 hours.

The energy storage system is mainly used to regulate fluctuations in PV output, participate in auxiliary services and enhance the system's FM response capability.

The project will be formally connected to the grid and put into operation in 2022, becoming one of the largest centralized photovoltaic storage grid-connected power stations in China.

2. State Power Investment Hainan State Multi-energy Complementary Project

Constructed by the State Power Investment Corporation (SIPC), with a total investment of more than 2 billion RMB, the project includes a coupled system of wind power, photovoltaic (PV), energy storage and peaking thermoelectricity. The installed PV capacity reaches 400MW, and the scale of the supporting energy storage system is 100MWh.

Highlights:

Realized the wind and fire storage multi-energy complementary, improve the efficiency of new energy consumption.

The energy storage system adjusts the operation strategy according to the peaks and valleys of the electricity price, which improves the economic efficiency.

The project has good commercial demonstration value, and is included in the national “14th Five-Year Plan” key energy development projects.

3. Jiangsu Rudong Fishing and Solar Energy Storage Project

Jiangsu Rudong Fishing and Solar Energy Storage Project

Located along the coast of Jiangsu Province in China, this project combines fishery farming and PV power generation, with a PV capacity of 120MW and a 20MWh energy storage system.

Highlights:

Realizes the comprehensive utilization mode of “power generation on top and aquaculture on the bottom”.

The energy storage system is used for load regulation, smoothing out voltage fluctuations, and participating in spot power trading to increase revenue.

It is suitable for the sustainable development path in the eastern load-intensive region.

Overseas successful cases of PV combined with energy storage

1. Hornsdale Battery Project in Australia

Hornsdale Battery Project, Australia

Built by Neoen in cooperation with Tesla, supporting the South Australian wind power system, with an energy storage capacity of 150MW/193.5MWh, it is an earlier large-scale lithium battery project in the world.

Highlights:

Responding to grid frequency fluctuations and participating in the FCAS market, significantly reducing the cost of auxiliary services on the Australian grid.

Realize the commercialization of the profitable energy storage model, providing a successful model for global optical storage projects.

The system is built by Tesla Powerpack, demonstrating both technical and market advantages.

2. Crimson Energy Storage Photovoltaic Project in California, U.S.A.

Located in the desert area of California, USA, the total scale is 350MW PV + 1400MWh energy storage system, which is one of the largest scale optical storage projects in the USA, developed by Recurrent Energy.

Highlights:

Supports California's clean energy goals and effectively alleviates power supply constraints during peak load hours.

The project has a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) that guarantees stable commercial returns.

The energy storage system uses advanced scheduling algorithms to optimize storage and discharge strategies.

3. Sonnen Community Energy Network, Germany

Sonnen Germany created a distributed home PV + energy storage system to form a virtual power plant network.

Highlight Analysis:

User self-generation and self-consumption + surplus power on-grid to enhance energy autonomy.

Realization of P2P energy trading through the platform enhances the social value of distributed energy system.

It is the pioneer of community-based energy storage business model and has expanded to Italy and Spain.

Industry Trends and Future Prospects

From the above cases, we can see that whether it is centralized large-scale power plants in China or commercialized and community-based solutions overseas, the combination of PV+energy storage has achieved technological and model breakthroughs at multiple levels. With the global PV installed costs continue to decline, such as 2024 component prices reduced by 50% compared to 2022, superimposed on the iterative energy storage technology, in 2023 the global storage battery capacity of more than 1TWh, the economy of the light storage integration project significantly improved. It is expected that by 2030, the global optical storage integration market size will exceed 200 billion U.S. dollars, Chinese companies in technology, cost and globalization service capabilities will further consolidate its dominant position.

Future development trends include:

Improvement of power market mechanism: promote energy storage to participate in capacity market and auxiliary service market.

Diversified energy storage technology routes: e.g. promotion and application of liquid current batteries and sodium ion batteries.

Policy incentives and business model innovation: such as energy storage tariff mechanism reform, leasing service model, etc.

Summarize

With the continuous upgrading of PV industry technology, the deep integration of PV + energy storage is accelerating the transformation and upgrading of global energy structure. Chinese PV enterprises are writing a new chapter of green energy in the world with the innovative combination of “technology + scene + mode”. Whether in China's vast western Gobi, or in Europe and the United States' mature power markets, this combination of technologies shows broad prospects and strong potential.

We believe that with technological progress and policy guidance, the integrated optical storage solution will be replicated and scaled up in more regions around the world, promoting clean energy into thousands of households. From desert power stations to urban rooftops, from grid-connected peak shifting to off-grid power supply, optical storage synergy not only reshapes the way energy is utilized, but also becomes a global solution to address climate change and achieve sustainable development.