Steel + New Energy Storage: A Series of String-Type Energy Storage Stations Exceeds 10,000 Hours of Operation
Date: April 1, 2025
Located at the Nanjing Iron and Steel Group and supported by investments from Three Gorges Power and Lingshu Energy, the Nanjing Nangang 61MW/123MWh energy storage station (referred to as the “Nangang Energy Storage Station”) has recently reached a significant milestone. Since connecting to the grid at full capacity in January 2024, the station has operated steadily for over 10,000 hours, transferring peak electricity loads exceeding 10 million kilowatt-hours. This remarkable performance has led to substantial savings on electricity costs, maximizing the economic benefits of peak shaving and valley filling, while also enhancing the utilization of regional energy storage facilities. Additionally, the station has actively participated in demand response, delayed upgrades to the power system, and provided auxiliary services.
Notably, a certification from the authoritative third-party testing organization, State Grid Electric Power Research Institute, confirmed that the energy storage system’s efficiency is as high as 90.29%. This figure not only challenges the industry’s perception of the economics of commercial and industrial energy storage but also establishes the Nangang Energy Storage Station as a benchmark case for the deep integration of traditional heavy industry and new energy technologies.
The project’s investor, Three Gorges Power, has stated that the operational results of the Nangang Energy Storage Station are promising. By dynamically responding to user-side peak shaving demands, the project has improved the matching between energy supply and demand. Lingshu Energy has provided comprehensive support from design to operational maintenance, effectively integrating the energy storage system into the production process. The long-term operation, characterized by high efficiency, stability, and utilization, has maximized the investment returns from the “energy storage + steel” model.
So, how is this impressive efficiency achieved? It stems from Lingshu Energy’s deep optimization of the technical architecture and meticulous design throughout the project.
On the technical architecture front, Lingshu Energy adopted a string-type solution. The Ocean Energy Blue Sea energy storage integrated cabinet employs a “one cluster, one management” design, breaking free from the constraints of traditional centralized solutions and eliminating circulating current effects. The thermal management system utilizes a flexible intelligent cooling strategy that can intelligently output cooling capacity based on cell temperature, environmental temperature, and operational conditions, allowing daily energy consumption of the liquid cooling unit to drop to 45.91 kWh. The proprietary 3S full-stack capability enables harmonious system response, while the self-developed Energy Management System (EMS) employs AI algorithms to predict production loads in real-time and dynamically optimize charge and discharge strategies, achieving coordinated control of peak shaving and transformer overload protection, thus enhancing power supply reliability.
From a project design perspective, to further enhance system efficiency, Lingshu Energy installed photovoltaic panels on each energy storage cabinet to support the power needs of the station. Additionally, every streetlight on the site is equipped with photovoltaic panels and small wind turbines, which help reduce station power consumption and improve operational efficiency through renewable energy supply.
In response to the extreme safety demands of steel enterprises, Lingshu Energy implemented a comprehensive safety system, featuring a “three-level fire protection + five-level fuse” mechanism, proactive safety measures such as “cluster-level thermal management + intelligent monitoring,” and passive safety measures like fault isolation. By leveraging local deployment of AI large models, the Ocean Energy Blue Sea energy storage integrated cabinet can provide safety warnings for thermal runaway over two months in advance, detecting minor internal short circuits with an accuracy rate exceeding 95%.
Moreover, the project has developed a battery health big data analysis module, applying big data analytics to battery health management, enabling real-time monitoring of the status of each cell in the energy storage station, achieving 0.3-second anomaly response times and 97% accuracy in lifespan prediction.
As the country’s first hundred-megawatt-class string-type user-side energy storage project, the Nangang Energy Storage Station has validated the scalability potential of this technology route. The string-type energy storage system, positioned at commercial and industrial user ends, offers flexible configurations closely aligned with actual user needs. The modular design allows enterprises to expand capacity in phases based on demand, avoiding substantial one-time investments. The liquid cooling system significantly enhances charge and discharge efficiency, with lifecycle discharge quantities 4% to 5% higher than centralized solutions.
The achievements of Lingshu Energy are not limited to the Nangang Energy Storage Station. According to data from the High-tech Industry Research Institute (GGII), Lingshu Energy ranked among the top two in the string-type energy storage system shipment volume in 2024 with over 1GWh of total installed capacity, while also being among the top ten in industrial and commercial energy storage system integration. The company has successfully implemented benchmark projects such as the Meigang 50MW/100MWh energy storage station and the Binhai 200MW/400MWh independent shared energy storage station.
The Meigang project utilized 252 Ocean400L liquid cooling energy storage cabinets, achieving first-year earnings of 32.8 million yuan. The Binhai project, currently the largest string-type grid-side energy storage station, features 1080 energy blue sea storage cabinets participating in grid peak shaving and frequency modulation, enhancing the owner’s capacity to accommodate renewable energy.
With a foundation in string-type energy storage solutions and a reliance on modular products and intelligent management models, Lingshu Energy is helping clients reshape industrial energy management paradigms. Looking ahead, the company aims to become an “energy partner” for clients, providing a full chain of services from energy supply to carbon asset management for high-energy-consuming industries like steel, supporting more owners in their transition to low-carbon production and contributing wisdom and strength to industrial green transformation.
