By zhanqun1 
When the flywheel energy storage system of Beacon Power in the United States monopolizes 85% of the global market share for a long time, Chinese engineers are creating miracles in the laboratory – in 2024, the megawatt flywheel speed developed by China Nuclear Energy exceeded 22,000 revolutions per minute, and the energy storage density reached 18Wh/kg, which not only exceeds 15% of similar products in the United States. It also marks that China flywheel energy storage has officially entered the era of “autonomous and controllable”.
1. Technology breaking the wall: a ten-year journey from catch-up to leader
At the Baoding flywheel test base in Hebei province, a set of carbon fiber rotors with a diameter of 2.3 meters are spinning at high speed in a vacuum chamber. This is China’s first megawatt flywheel with fully independent intellectual property rights, and its core technological breakthroughs are reflected in three dimensions:
Materials Revolution:
Using T1100 grade carbon fiber composite material, tensile strength of 7.0GPa (40% higher than imported T800), rotor limit speed increased to 25000 RPM. The graphene coating technology developed by the Ningbo Institute of Materials of the Chinese Academy of Sciences reduces the friction coefficient of the rotor surface to 0.001, and the energy loss is reduced by 32%.
Bearing breakthrough:
The “five-degree-of-freedom Active magnetic bearing” of XEMC adjusts the rotor attitude in real time through 128 electromagnetic coils to control the axial vibration within 5μm, and the accuracy reaches twice that of Active Power products in the United States. This technology reduces the mechanical loss of the system to 0.8% and extends the service life to 30 years.
Intelligent control:
Honghui Energy’s AI temperature control algorithm can complete the charge and discharge switch within 0.3 milliseconds according to the change of the power grid frequency fluctuation of 0.01Hz. In Zhangbei Fengguang storage and Transportation demonstration project, the qualified rate of FM response increased from 91% to 99.6%.
2. Cost breakthrough: industrial chain reconstruction with localization rate of 60%
The price of the domestic flywheel has dropped from 42,000 yuan /kW in 2019 to 18,000 yuan /kW in 2024, behind which is the domestic replacement process of the four core components:
| Parts | localization rate (2019) | Localization rate (2024) | Cost reduction |
| Carbon fiber rotor | 12% | 68% | 55% |
| Magnetic bearing system | 8% | 45% | 40% |
| Vacuum chamber | 35% | 92% | 70% |
| Control system | 22% | 100% | 80% |
In Ningxia Lingwu energy storage power Station, after 30 domestic flywheels replaced imported equipment, the construction cost was saved by 42 million yuan, and the whole life cycle operation and maintenance cost was reduced by 60%. The power station has become the world’s largest flywheel energy storage cluster, with an average daily frequency modulation income of 580,000 yuan.
Third, global cooperation: from technical input to standard output
In 2024, China’s flywheel energy storage exports show three major trends:
High-end market breakthrough:
The 1.5MW flywheel system at the Atacama Observatory in Chile has been operating for 180 days without failure at an altitude of 5,000 meters and a temperature difference of 40 ° C, setting an industry record.
Technical standard output:
The “General Technical Requirements for Magnetic levitation Flywheel Energy Storage System” led by China has been adopted by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), which is the first time that China has mastered the right to speak of international standards in the field of flywheels.
Business model innovation:
Huayang promoted the “Flywheel as a Service” (FaaS) model in Southeast Asia, where users pay for frequency modulation, reducing the return on investment to 3.2 years.
Fourth, hidden worries and the future: carbon fiber dilemma and trillion track
Although the domestic flywheel has achieved 80% of its components, T1100 carbon fiber still relies on imports from Toray, Japan, and the price is as high as 3,000 yuan/kg. Zhongfu Shenying is building a thousand-ton high-performance carbon fiber production line, which is expected to reduce costs by 70% after being put into operation in 2026.
According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, by 2030, China’s flywheel energy storage market will exceed 120 billion yuan, accounting for 45% of the global market share. This domestic alternative battle is rewriting the global energy storage industry pattern.