The application of supercapacitors is rapidly popularizing, and we understand from the automotive industry that almost all applications from high-end cars to the mass market are popularizing the application of supercapacitors. For car purchases, there are two levels: appearance and performance. However, for general users, the focus is more on the handling performance of the car, which is also an important opportunity for car manufacturers to differentiate their products. In addition, driving comfort is becoming a purchasing standard, as even small cars can provide stable suspension comparable to previous generations of luxury cars.
For the future development of transportation, the main direction is still environmental protection, so new energy travel has become a development trend, and endurance is particularly important. Nowadays, electric vehicles with long endurance and a large number of battery packs have become the norm rather than the exception. However, a large number of batteries loaded in vehicles will become a burden on vehicles and drivers, so major manufacturers are still looking for solutions that can improve this drawback.
The emergence of supercapacitors seems to have given many manufacturers a glimpse of the future prospects of the electric vehicle market. They first added this product to their high-end products as usual and gradually penetrated the Volkswagen market a few years later.
At present, modern systems, such as the Audi SQ7, Bentley Toyota, or the new Porsche Taycan, are all electric and powered by a 48V system, providing very fast response time and the high power required for better performance of the active roll control system. Although this is still a niche application for high-end cars today, with the decrease in energy storage prices and the greater market share of electric vehicles, it means that product sales will reach a new high.
Super capacitors joining the electric vehicle market
Most modern applications, such as these active roll control systems, eliminate power limitations and voltage drops to prevent any adverse situations in the main electrical system. In the current market, 48V systems are very popular and can achieve energy regeneration at high power levels, so lithium-ion batteries are not suitable for this application in the long run.
When it comes to batteries and non adaptability, the electric active roll control system only requires lower average power, but requires higher peak power - a ratio of 1:10 to 1:15, resulting in relatively low energy requirements. Therefore, the energy storage requirements are completely opposite to the ideal use of lithium-ion batteries.
In current electric vehicles, this has led to severe oversized battery packs to meet power requirements, but even the oversized size is not enough to overcome the limitations of lithium-ion batteries in terms of energy regeneration potential. Especially for electric vehicles, the 48V system will mainly be used for comfort without focusing on energy regeneration. It is meaningless to use super large lithium-ion batteries to meet the peak power demand of a few loads.
And precisely because of this, the emergence of supercapacitor solutions has given the Volkswagen market more possibilities, as they can charge and discharge within a few seconds, and they can undergo over a million charging and discharging cycles.
More than a decade ago, it was always the goal of automotive engineers to replace energy storage technology with power technology such as supercapacitors. However, the progress in improving the energy density of supercapacitors has not been ideal, and the price of supercapacitors in the market is relatively high, which has also increased obstacles for universal supercapacitors.
It is only in the past few years that supercapacitors have undergone various revivals, largely thanks to the progress of skeleton technology in utilizing synthetic raw materials while improving energy and power density. This has reduced manufacturing costs, and supercapacitors have become a viable choice for automotive OEMs and first tier manufacturers. At the same time, the number of car manufacturers using supercapacitors as active suspension energy storage is increasing.
Supercapacitors become power based energy storage black technology
Billion dollar market space is opening up
Supercapacitors are a new type of power type energy storage device with characteristics such as short charging time, long service life, good temperature characteristics, and green environmental protection. 2022 is the first year for the large-scale implementation of supercapacitors in the fields of power frequency regulation and hybrid energy storage. During this period, supercapacitors were first applied in integrated peak shaving frequency regulation, primary frequency regulation, and shore storage projects in China.
Soochow Securities believes that supercapacitors are power based energy storage black technologies. The energy density of hybrid supercapacitors has significantly improved. The cost of supercapacitors has continued to decline due to the localization of upstream materials. The policy attaches importance to the development of diversified new energy storage, which helps pilot demonstration projects to be launched on a large scale. With the triple benefits of technology, cost, and policy, the supercapacitor industry is facing an accelerating turning point.
At present, while the super capacitor industry is growing steadily in wind power, rail transit, oil to electricity, smart meter and other fields, it is ushering in an upward acceleration turning point in power grid frequency modulation, hybrid energy storage, automobiles and other fields. The market prospect is promising. According to the data from the Supercapacitor Industry Alliance, the global supercapacitor market size in 2021 was 1.59 billion US dollars, and it is expected to reach 3.7 billion US dollars by 2027. The compound growth rate from 2021 to 2027 is 18%, and the market space of tens of billions is being opened up.
Several listed companies have laid out their supercapacitor business. On December 28, 2022, Siyuan Electric announced that it will use its own funds of 618 million yuan to acquire 41.1985% of the equity of Enjing Carbon Energy. After the completion of this equity acquisition, it will hold 51.2% of the equity of Enjing Carbon Energy. The company acquires equity in Enjing Carbon Energy to promote the application of supercapacitors in energy storage and passenger vehicles.
Jianghai's supercapacitor related products are mainly used in smart meter, wind power and other fields, and have been further expanded in energy storage, oil to electricity, grid frequency modulation and other fields. The performance development of the company's supercapacitor is in line with market expectations.
Ruitai New Materials recently stated on the investor platform that the Huarong Chemical Intelligent Transformation Project, which has been raised for investment, has been terminated. The relevant funds have been invested in the Zhangjiagang Chaowei New Energy's annual production of 4000 tons of lithium battery/supercapacitor electrolyte new materials and 5737.9 tons of chemical raw materials (by-products) project.
The 500 ton supercapacitor carbon project planned to be completed by Meijin Energy in 2022 is currently underway as planned.
Localization of the industrial chain? brook no delay
The demand side has a beautiful imagination space, can the supply side achieve its wish?
Firstly, China's supercapacitor market size is definitely the largest in the world. A country occupies 1/4 of the market share, and the market size has achieved rapid growth.
If we open up the industry chain of supercapacitors, the upstream is the four major components we just mentioned, among which the electrolyte has basically achieved domestic substitution. However, electrode materials account for approximately 30% to 40% of the cost of supercapacitors and are currently on the way to domestic substitution.
Specifically, electrode materials are mainly divided into activated carbon materials, metal oxide materials, and conductive polymer materials. From the cost of these materials, activated carbon materials have become the most difficult barrier to break through. According to the author's understanding, currently 90% of activated carbon relies on imports, with Japan's Kolli activated carbon electrode material accounting for nearly 70% of China's market share.
What an astonishing proportion of imports! The upstream is stuck in the neck, how to make the downstream develop better. Fortunately, players such as Meijin Energy have recently received good news and have made substantial breakthroughs in the path of localization.
In the research and development and manufacturing of supercapacitors, multiple local supercapacitor manufacturers have begun to take shape. For example, Jianghai Co., Ltd., with its deep accumulation in the field of industrial capacitors, has now achieved full coverage of supercapacitor product application scenarios and is challenging Maxwell, the industry leader.
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