The Nanjing Nangang 61MW/123MWh Energy Storage Station, built at the Nanjing Iron and Steel Group with investment from China Three Gorges Corporation and support from Leading Storage Energy, has recently celebrated a significant milestone. This station is the first user-side energy storage project in China to reach the scale of 100 MWh and utilizes Leading Storage Energy’s Ocean Energy Blue Sea modular solution. Since it was fully connected to the grid in January 2024, the station has been operating reliably for over 10,000 hours and has transferred more than 10 million kWh of peak electricity load.
Notably, the system efficiency of the Nanjing Nangang Energy Storage Station has been certified by the State Grid Electric Power Research Institute to be as high as 90.29%. This figure not only sets a new record for operational efficiency among commercial and industrial energy storage projects but also positions the station as a benchmark case for integrating traditional heavy industry with modular energy storage technology.
The modular energy storage system, which employs cluster-level management, enhances the station’s efficiency while significantly improving operational safety through coordinated management, consistent charging and discharging, and inter-cluster balancing. As the demand for efficiency and safety in energy storage systems increases, modular energy storage systems are gaining prominence.
Modular Energy Storage Systems: Flexible, Efficient, Safe, and Economical
Modular energy storage systems offer significant advantages in installation flexibility, system efficiency, safety, and economic viability due to their diverse product designs. The modular design allows for greater flexibility compared to large storage containers: individual modules are more compact and easier to transport and install, making scalability more convenient.
Enhanced energy management through a multi-level architecture and distributed management increases efficiency. Cluster control prevents accelerated aging of battery clusters caused by circulating currents, while high temperature consistency can significantly improve the efficiency of the energy storage system, thereby enhancing overall station revenue.
Safety is heightened through inter-cluster isolation, where battery clusters are isolated by PCS, preventing chain reactions from faults within the cluster. Although the initial investment for modular systems may be slightly higher than centralized systems, the increased generation capacity leads to greater returns over the entire lifecycle.
For instance, in a 100 MW station, the modular energy storage system’s initial investment is approximately 10% higher than that of a traditional centralized energy storage station. However, over a 15-year period, the modular system achieves an overall return that is about 15% higher than that of traditional systems.
How Leading Storage Energy Achieves 90%+ Efficiency
The impressive 90%+ efficiency of Leading Storage Energy is a result of their in-depth optimization of the technical architecture and meticulous project design. They utilize a modular solution with the Ocean Energy Blue Sea storage cabinet, which features a “one cluster, one management” design, breaking free from the constraints of traditional centralized systems and eliminating the effects of circulating currents.
The thermal management system employs a flexible, intelligent cooling strategy that adjusts cooling output based on cell temperature, environmental conditions, and operational status; the liquid cooling units achieve a daily energy consumption as low as 45.91 kWh. Their 3S full-stack self-research capability ensures a harmonious system response. Furthermore, their self-developed Energy Management System (EMS) leverages AI algorithms to predict production loads in real-time and dynamically optimize charging and discharging strategies, enhancing supply reliability.
To further boost system efficiency, Leading Storage Energy has added solar panels to each storage cabinet to power the station’s auxiliary electricity needs. Additionally, solar panels and small wind turbines are installed on every streetlight, minimizing power loss from auxiliary consumption and improving the operational efficiency of the system.
In response to the steel industry’s stringent safety requirements, Leading Storage Energy has implemented a comprehensive safety system that includes a “triple-tier fire protection + five-tier fusing” mechanism, active safety measures like cluster-level thermal management and intelligent monitoring, as well as passive measures such as fault isolation. This proactive approach allows for early warnings of thermal runaway, with a lead time of over two months, and accurately detects minor short circuits with a detection accuracy of over 95%.
The project has also developed a big data analysis module for battery health management, enabling real-time monitoring of each battery cell’s status, achieving an anomaly response time of 0.3 seconds and a life prediction accuracy of 97%.
As the first user-side storage project in China to reach the 100 MWh scale, the Nanjing Nangang Energy Storage Station has validated the scalability of this technology. The modular energy storage system, deployed at commercial users’ sites, offers flexible configurations that align closely with user needs. The modular design allows businesses to expand capacity in stages, avoiding heavy capital investment upfront. The liquid cooling system significantly enhances charging and discharging efficiency, increasing the total discharge capacity by 4%-5% compared to centralized solutions.
According to the project’s investor, China Three Gorges Corporation, the operational results of the Nanjing Nangang Energy Storage Station are promising. The project dynamically responds to user-side peak shaving demands, improving the matching of supply and demand. Leading Storage Energy has been involved throughout the design and operational support phases, successfully integrating the energy storage system into production processes. The long-term operation has maximized the investment returns of “energy storage + steel”.
Leading Storage Energy’s Impact on the Industry
Leading Storage Energy’s achievements extend beyond the Nanjing Nangang Energy Storage Station. According to data from GGII, in 2024, Leading Storage Energy ranked among the top two in the shipment of modular energy storage systems, with over 1 GWh of total installed capacity. They have successfully implemented flagship projects such as the Meigang 50MW/100MWh energy storage station and the Binhai 200MW/400MWh independent shared energy storage station.
The Meigang project employs 252 Ocean 400L liquid-cooled storage cabinets, generating a revenue of 32.8 million yuan in its first year. The Binhai project, currently the largest modular energy storage station connected to the grid, utilizes 1080 energy blue sea storage cabinets to participate in grid peak shaving and frequency modulation, enhancing the owners’ capacity to integrate renewable energy.
By leveraging modular energy storage solutions and intelligent management models, Leading Storage Energy is helping clients reshape industrial energy management paradigms. Looking ahead, Leading Storage Energy aims to become an “energy partner” for clients in high-energy-consuming industries like steel, providing comprehensive services from energy supply to carbon asset management, thereby supporting more businesses in their transition to low-carbon production and contributing to the green transformation of industry.
