Thanks to government pursuing policies that aim to achieve carbon neutrality, demand continues to grow rapidly in the energy storage market, where battery suppliers have been energetic in seizing initiatives and expanding their presence. On September 21, battery supplier CATL signed a long-term supply contract with FlexGen. Under their agreement, CATL will supply 10GWh of advanced battery energy storage systems to FlexGen over a three-year period. Based in the US, FlexGen provides a platform for managing energy storage systems as well as related solutions.
FlexGen will be procuring the EnerC, a container battery system that features liquid cooling as well as 1P55 and C5 anti-corrosion protection. CATL said EnerC can operate under extreme weather conditions all-year round and is “ensured” to be able to operate safely and reliably over a 20-year period. The liquid cooling technology, in particular, raises the energy density of the battery system to 259.7kWh per square meter. This represents an increase of almost 200% compared with a battery energy storage system that adopts the conventional air cooling technology.
The EnerC will be integrated with FlexGen’s HybridOS energy management platform. The two companies will join forces to provide advanced and dependable solutions to utilities, competitive electricity markets, and municipal and cooperative energy projects. The Hybrid OS is currently operating in Texas, California, and other parts of North America.
Before the signing of this deal, FlexGen had already been designated as an authorized service provider for CATL’s battery energy storage system in North America. CATL said the deepening of the partnership and the latest supply agreement will allow it to more quickly deliver its key products to energy storage projects in North America. Together, the two companies have already worked on more than 2.5GWh of projects. Looking ahead, CATL expects a very positive outlook for the energy storage market as governments promote the adoption of renewables and improve the resiliency of their power grids.
Regarding the US market, CATL’s products have been deployed in three projects in California and one project in Texas. The first three are being developed by Southern California Edison and total more than 2.1GWh. The last one is a commercial project that has more than 500MWh in operation and construction.
Market intelligence firm TrendForce points out that as governments worldwide set targets for capping and reducing CO2 emissions, energy storage equipment has become the second largest business following EV power batteries in CATL’s portfolio. In China, CATL has become the strategic partner of state-owned power companies such as CHN Energy, SPIC, CTG, etc. As for overseas markets, CATL is also deepening its business relations with Nextera, Fluence, Wartisla, and Tesla in the field of energy storage technologies. Some of these foreign clients belong to the top 10 group in the global energy storage market.
For the first half of 2022, CATL’s revenue grew by 156.32% year on year to RMB 112.971 billion. Its net profit attributable to the parent company grew by 82.17% year on year to RMB 8.168 billion. Of the half-year total revenue, sales of energy storage equipment came to RMB 12.74 billion, showing a year-on-year growth rate of 171.41% and a revenue share of 11.27%.
This article is a translation of a Chinese article posted by TrendForce. It contains information that is either sourced from other news outlets or accessible in the public domain. Some Chinese names are transcribed into English using Hanyu Pinyin.