Analysis and Comparison of the Application Prospects of Energy
Storage Technologies in Guangdong Province, China
Yuanxi Li
Shenzhen Nanshan Foreign Language School, Shenzhen, Guangdong province, 518000, China
Keywords: Compressed Air Energy Storage, Rechargeable Battery, Pumped-Storage Hydroelectricity, Guangdong
Region.
Abstract: After the Industrial Revolution, people began to pursue energy vigorously. However, with the continuous
increase of energy demand, traditional fossil energy will not be able to meet the needs of society. To this end,
emerging renewable energy technologies were born. However, with the continuous of renewable energy
technology progress, there is an imbalance between energy supply and demand. As a result, many energy
storage technologies have been invented to conserve energy for use in times of high demand. However,
various regions are characterized by distinct environmental conditions, encompassing climate, physical
geography, and diverse social needs. As a result, energy storage technologies tailored to local conditions are
essential for effectively meeting the energy requirements of the respective communities. Finding the
appropriate storage technology for each location will enhance people's quality of life and promote more
efficient energy usage. Guangdong, an economically and demographically important province in China, has
huge energy demands. In this paper, the application prospect of three kinds of energy storage technology
including air compression energy storage technology, pumped-storage hydroelectricity technology and
rechargeable battery in Guangdong region is investigated. By means of data comparison and factor analysis,
the influence of Guangdong's special environmental conditions on different energy storage technologies and
their applicability are analysed. It is concluded that seawater pumped storage is the most suitable technology
for Guangdong Province, which can not only ensure the minimum impact of the conditions, but also make
full use of the superior resources in Guangdong.
1 INTRODUCTION
In the last few decades, society's demand for energy
has increased since the global level of
industrialization and urbanization is faster and faster.
Due to population growth, global energy demand is
expected to increase sharply (Bazdar et al., 2022). In
order to adapt the increased demand, fossil fuels have
been adopted on a massive scale. However, the use of
these fuels has led to a number of environmental
problems. Such as over-exploitation of land
resources, oil spill pollution and global warming. In
recent years, in order to mitigate the environmental
impact of coal and oil and satisfy the growing energy
demands of urban areas, the attention to the large-
scale use of renewable energy sources has increased
considerably. However, the limitation of renewable
energy sources lies in the fact that their supply does
not always align with people’s demand. This lack of
uniformity in timing presents a challenge for meeting
energy needs efficiently. Some emerging energy
storage technologies solve this problem. Therefore, in
this paper, the application prospects of different
energy storage technologies in special areas, such as
Guangdong, are focused on. As a first-tier province in
China, Guangdong has an area of 179,800 square
kilometers and a permanent population of 115.21
million, which has a very large energy demand. In
2019, Guangdong's total energy consumption was
341 million tons of standard coal (Zhang and Chen,
2019). Therefore, Guangdong urgently needs to carry
out transformation of green resources and adopt new
energy storage technology. At the same time, due to
the complex climate conditions, geographical
conditions and economic effects in Guangdong, it is
necessary to the overall analysis of the energy storage
technology, different application scenarios and their
features, and find the most suitable one. In this paper,
three technologies used as energy storage solution in
the world are analyzed. The potential applications of
energy generation technologies explored in the
Guangdong region are by conducting a comparative
Li, Y.
Analysis and Comparison of the Application Prospects of Energy Storage Technologies in Guangdong Province, China.
DOI: 10.5220/0013849200004914
Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Renewable Energy and Ecosystem (ICREE 2024), pages 121-126
ISBN: 978-989-758-776-4
Proceedings Copyright © 2025 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda.
121

analysis of data from similar regions around the
world. Additionally, it will provide recommendations
for selecting appropriate energy generation
technology in the Guangdong region.
2 COMPRESSED AIR ENERGY
STORAGE (CAES)
TECHNOLOGY
2.1 Operating Principle
CAES technology storages energy by compressed air,
and it has the advantages of long duration and low
cost. During high supply/low demand cycles, the
CAES system converts solar or wind energy into
electricity for compressing air. The air will be stored
in special storage units, such as above-ground storage
tanks or underground caverns. During low
supply/high demand cycles, this compressed air will
be released and expanded through an expander. Then
electricity is generated by driving turbines,
converting their internal energy into electricity for
people to use. CAES technology has been very
mature, now there are Diabetic-Compressed Air
Energy Storage (D-CAES), Adiabatic-Compressed
Air Storage (A-CAES), Advanced Adiabatic-
Compressed (AA-CAES) technology and so on. This
paper mainly discusses AA-CAES technology.
2.2 Performance Analysis
2.2.1 Energy Efficiency
Thermal energy storage (TES) technology makes up
for the low energy efficiency of traditional CAES
technology. The energy conversion rate of the AA-
CAES system after adding TES technology, can
generally reach 65%-70%. In an experiment, it was
determined that the energy conversion rate of AA-
CAES technology could reach 63-74%, higher than
the predicted 60%-65% (Geissbühler et al., 2018).
2.2.2 Energy Density
The energy storage density of CAES technology is
often in a low level, generally at the range of 3-6Wh/L
(He and Wang, 2018). The factor that most affects
this indicator is the choice of energy storage materials
in the system. CAES technology uses air as energy
storage material, which is not an efficient material.
That means that CAES technology is more promising
in larger projects.
2.2.3 Energy Storage Duration
The biggest advantage of AA-CAES technology is its
long duration. It is predicted to last longer than 30
years. In fact, the AA-CAES technology that has been
put into use can generally be maintained for 20-30
years in the absence of other factors (economics,
policy, corporate decisions, etc.) (King et al, 2021).
Due to its low energy density, CAES technology
experiences minimal energy loss over an extended
storage period, making it a highly efficient option for
long-term energy storage.
2.3 Feasibility Analysis
AA-CAES technology takes high energy conversion
efficiency and long storage duration as merits. At the
same time, it also needs to meet some conditions.
First of all, the high energy conversion rate of AA-
CAES largely depends on the application of advanced
TES systems. Some studies have shown that TES
system will be affected by external temperature
(DeForest et al., 2014). Singapore is a tropical
rainforest climate zone and Guangdong belongs to the
subtropical monsoon climate zone. Both climates
have the characteristics of high temperature and high
annual rainfall. Therefore, this paper compares the
impact of TES system in Singapore with that in
Guangdong. A study conducted in Singapore showed
that TES systems are affected by temperature changes
throughout the day. It is affected by Partial load
operation, Peak-load management and Price
arbitrage, and the extent of the impact is widespread.
The study also suggests ways to deal with it.
However, the conclusion is that the TES system is not
suitable for use in places with high population
density, because it requires a larger space for heat
conversion (Comodi et al., 2016). Besides, AA -
CAES system energy density at a low level.
Therefore, the use of AA-CAES technology as a
large-scale energy storage system requires large-
capacity containers, such as large and stable
underground caverns or large-scale above-ground
storage tanks (Geissbühler et al., 2018). Guangdong
is in the monsoon climate area, and many typhoons
often on land in summer, accompanied by continuous
heavy rain. Heavy rains eroded the land surface,
causing landslides. Therefore, it is difficultly that
building the large-scale underground caves
artificially in Guangdong has good stability. On the
other hand, building large-scale storage tanks on the
surface seems more feasible. Although the population
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density of Guangdong is at a relatively high level,
some areas in the periphery still have a large amount
of available place. However, the resistance of the
above ground storage tank to typhoon remains to be
studied. The CAES storage tanks in Singapore are not
severely affected by typhoons, but this is most likely
because Singapore is not particularly affected by
typhoons. Therefore, whether the above ground
storage tank can be used in Guangdong area is still to
be studied and discussed.
3 PUMPED-STORAGE
HYDROELECTRICITY
(PSHS)TECHNOLOGY
3.1 Operating Principle
Pumped storage uses water as storage medium and
achieves energy storage destination through the
mutual conversion of potential energy and electric
energy. At high supply/low demand cycles, pumped
storage systems run pumps with low-cost electricity
to transfer water from the lower reservoir to the upper
one, increasing the potential energy of the water.
During the opposite cycles, the water stored up drives
hydraulic turbines, which generate electricity.
Pumped storage technology is the most economical
technology with long storage period, stable high
energy conversion rate and large capacity form.
Typical pumped hydroelectric energy storage (W-
PHES) plants include wind pumped hydroelectric
energy storage (W-PHES) plants, solar photovoltaic
pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PV-PHES)
plants, and seawater pumped hydroelectric storage
power plants (Rehman et al., 2015).
3.2 Performance Analysis
3.2.1 Energy Efficiency
Pumped storage technology has a high energy
conversion rate. Its ability conversion rate can
generally reach 70%-80% in different situations, and
some people claim that it can reach 87% (Kong et al.,
2017). Efficient energy conversion results in less
energy loss and lower cost, which is more significant
in large-scale storage, which also makes pumped
storage technology widely used around the world.
3.2.2 Energy Density
PHES technology has a lower energy density. The
siting of the PHES system should have at least a large
body of water or a drastic height change (Comodi et
al., 2016). Therefore, the location of PHES system is
very important. The former compensates for the low
energy density with capacity, while the latter
compensates with the average potential energy.
3.3 Feasibility Analysis
Wind energy is one of the earliest clean energy
sources used by humans, and W-PHES technology is
now being used all over the world. The technology is
well established and is typically used in Turkey and
the Mediterranean region, which are usually built on
islands to provide energy for more isolated islands
that are difficult to transport (Petrakopoulou,
Robinson and Loizidou, 2016). This is the application
of small and medium-sized wind energy storage
technology. Guangdong Province is in the subtropical
monsoon climate zone and has abundant wind
resources. At the same time, Guangdong Province is
a coastal province with many small islands (such as
Chuanshan Islands, Wanshan Islands, etc.).
Guangdong's environmental conditions seem to be
ideal for the construction of wind pumped storage
power stations. But there are potential problems.
Typical wind-pumped storage plants, such as those in
the Mediterranean, rely on islands and supply only
islands. Whether such a power station can supply
enough energy to the Guangdong region is a question
that requires precise calculation and reasoning.
PV-PHES technology is a PHES technology
with solar energy as the main application energy. The
regular indirect nature of solar energy, it can only be
collected during the day (Hammad et al., 2024).
Guangdong, located in the subtropical region, has
abundant light resources, but these resources are not
evenly distributed throughout the year, and the
polarization is more serious. From July to October,
Guangdong can maintain good light duration and
light intensity. But in November to January, that is,
winter, Guangdong is mostly cloudy. From February
to June, that is, spring and early summer, Guangdong
is affected by the southeast monsoon, the weather is
changeable, accompanied by heavy rain and
typhoons. In other words, it was difficult for
Guangdong to maintain a stable supply of daylight in
the first half of the year, while sufficient solar energy
was concentrated in July-October. Therefore, PV-
Analysis and Comparison of the Application Prospects of Energy Storage Technologies in Guangdong Province, China
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PHES technology can be applied in Guangdong, but
whether it can be stable for energy supply is still to be
discussed.
Seawater pumped hydroelectric plants is the
most suitable for the application among these three
technologies in Guangdong. First of all, Guangdong
Province is located in the seaside, there are rich sea
water resources and island resources. As early as
2017, China's National Energy Administration
carried out a survey of the resources of seawater
pumped storage power plants in coastal provinces.
According to the report, Guangdong has 57 resource
sites with a total resource of 11.46 million kilowatts,
accounting for 27.2 percent of the country's total
resources (National Energy Administration of China,
2024). On this basis, the energy Bureau further
screened these sites and eventually selected eight sites
with relatively good conditions across the country,
three of which were in Guangdong Province. In
addition, small seawater technology is an advanced
and mature technology in the world and can be
directly applied to a small-scale pilot. There is only
one precedent for large-scale seawater technology, a
seawater pumped storage power plant on the Japanese
island. If Guangdong Province can adopt this
technology, it can make use of the good resources and
contribute to the world's technological practice.
4 ELECTROCHEMICAL
ENERGY STORAGE
4.1 Operating Principle
Electrochemical energy storage system uses chemical
energy storage battery as a medium for energy
storage. The technology converts clean energy into
chemical energy when demand is low and stores it in
batteries. At peak times, the battery converts chemical
energy into electricity, releasing previously stored
energy. Compared with other technologies,
electrochemical storage technology has larger energy
per weight and transforms energy faster. At present,
in the application of materials, rechargeable batteries
can be divided into several categories (Tian, Zhan and
Yan, 2021). Overall consideration, the lithium-ion
battery has the merits of high energy density and
environmental friendliness.
4.2 Performance Analysis
4.2.1 Energy Density
A characteristic of lithium-ion batteries is their high
energy density. As early as the early 21st century,
lithium-ion batteries can reach an energy density of
200-400 Wh/L (Chen et al., 2020). High energy
density means the need for smaller volumes, which is
in line with the demand for energy storage technology
in cities with limited land, such as Guangdong.
4.2.2 Energy Efficiency
Lithium-ion batteries have the highest energy density
among the three technologies mentioned in this
article, reaching about 90%, and can even reach 97%
under suitable conditions (Yu, Wang and Chan,
2020). The utilization rate of energy is a vital noble
to judge whether an energy storage system is
available.
4.2.3 Duration
Lithium-ion battery has a disadvantage in energy
duration. The positive and negative electrodes of
lithium-ion batteries will suffer some irreversible
damage. At present, the irreversible capacity loss of
the most widely used graphite negative electrode is
greater than 6%, and for the silicon and tin alloy
negative electrode with a high specific capacity, the
irreversible capacity loss is even as high as 10% to
20% (Thompson et al., 2020). In recent years, some
lithium replenishment technologies have been studied
to eliminate this drawback of lithium-ion batteries.
However, these techniques only have experimental
data and have not been applied in practice.
4.3 Feasibility
The advantages and disadvantages of lithium-ion
batteries are obvious. On the bright side, first of all, it
has an energy conversion rate that exceeds most
energy storage technologies, which is in line with
people's needs for energy storage technology. In
addition, its high energy density makes it also very
suitable for use in Guangdong, which has a high
degree of population density. These two indicators
are important criteria for people to choose
technology. However, the drawbacks of lithium-ion
energy storage technology are also obvious. First,
batteries have been used in small devices in recent
years (Meister et al., 2016). For example, new energy
vehicles or energy storage devices for small-scale
applications. There are not many examples of large-
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scale devices being used worldwide. Secondly, the
consumption of lithium batteries is still to be solved.
In small devices, perhaps this problem is not obvious,
but if you want to supply power to a large area of
Guangdong, the consumption of lithium batteries will
be a problem that must be solved. Finally, some
questions have been raised about whether lithium-ion
batteries are really environmentally friendly devices.
Due to the rapid development of technology, the
composition of lithium batteries is extremely variable
and complex. In contrast, the technology for treating
exhaust lithium-ion batteries does not identify and
separate these different materials well, often leading
to incomplete recycling and pollution of the external
environment (Mrozik et al., 2021). If lithium-ion
batteries will be put into use in Guangdong, this paper
believes that these problems are urgent to be solved.
5 CONCLUSION
This paper finds that various energy storage
technologies have different degrees of application in
Guangdong. AA-CAES technology has lower cost
and higher energy conversion rate, but the high
energy conversion rate of AA-CAES technology
depends on its advanced TES system. However, the
climate and complex weather conditions in
Guangdong Province are not suitable for large-scale
use of TES system. In addition, Guangdong Province
does not have the stability and sufficient space
required for AA-CAES systems. Rechargeable
battery technology has a high energy conversion rate
and high energy density, this means that it can occupy
a smaller space and store more energy. There are still
many technical issues to be resolved. Pumped storage
system has good conditions in Guangdong. Although
the W-PHES technology and PV-PHES technology
have the problem of discontinuous energy supply, the
seawater pumped storage system can avoid these
problems. There's plenty of research to prove it. To
sum up, this paper considers that seawater pumped
storage technology is the most suitable technology to
be used in Guangdong. Application possibility of
different energy storage technologies and the possible
impact of climate and geographical conditions in
Guangdong Province are analyzed in this paper.
Some suggestions for selecting energy storage
technologies suitable for Guangdong Province are
provided. The analysis in this paper is the integration
and analysis of various energy storage technologies
and the overall situation of Guangdong Province. We
can further study and analysis the data differences and
influencing factors in the actual application of various
technologies in Guangdong Province, and conduct
quantitative analysis.
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