The National Energy Administration held a press conference on the 31st to introduce the development of new energy storage in the first half of the year. As of the first half of 2024, the cumulative installed capacity of new energy storage projects completed and put into operation nationwide has reached 44.44 million kilowatts/99.06 million kilowatt hours, an increase of over 40% compared to the end of 2023. Bian Guangqi, Deputy Director of the Energy Conservation and Technology Equipment Department of the National Energy Administration, said that in terms of regional distribution, over 50% of the country's new energy storage installations have been put into operation in the northwest and north China regions. Among them, 27.3% in the northwest region, 27.2% in the north region, 15.3% in the central region, 15.2% in the south region, 14.6% in the east region, and 0.4% in the northeast region. From a technical perspective, multiple compressed air energy storage, flow battery energy storage, and sodium ion battery energy storage projects have been put into operation, exploring the application of grid based energy storage and promoting diversified technological development. As of the first half of 2024, lithium-ion battery energy storage accounts for 97%, compressed air energy storage accounts for 1.1%, lead carbon (acid) battery energy storage accounts for 0.8%, flow battery energy storage accounts for 0.4%, and other technological routes account for 0.7%. From the perspective of application scenarios, independent energy storage and shared energy storage account for 45.3% of the installed capacity, new energy matched energy storage accounts for 42.8%, and other application scenarios account for 11.9%. According to statistics from power grid enterprises, the equivalent utilization hours of new energy storage in the State Grid operating zone reached 390 hours and the equivalent charging and discharging times were about 93 times in the first half of 2024, an increase of about 100% and 86% respectively compared to the first half of 2023. In mature markets such as Shandong and Gansu, the level of new energy storage utilization has been further improved. The equivalent utilization hours of new energy storage in the Southern Power Grid operating area reached 560 hours in the first half of 2024, which is close to the full year utilization level of 2023. Next, the National Energy Administration will strengthen planning guidance, enhance pilot demonstrations, optimize scheduling and utilization, improve standard systems, perfect market mechanisms, and continue to promote high-quality development of the new energy storage industry. (New Society)