Leading battery supplier CATL has secured another huge order from the US energy storage market after being awarded the contract for supplying 10GWh of batteries to FlexGen in September. On October 18, CATL announced that it has reached an agreement with Primergy Solar for supplying batteries that will be deployed in the Gemini PV-Storage Project. In fact, CATL will be the exclusive battery supplier for this project. Based in the US, Primergy focuses on the development of utility-scale energy projects that integrate solar PV and an energy storage solution.
Gemini is located in Las Vegas, Nevada. Its total investment has come to around USD 1.2 billion (CNY 8.63 billion). In terms of performance, its generation capacity is set reach 690MWac and 966MWdc. Its energy storage capacity is set to reach 1.416GWh. Once up and running, Gemini is expected to be among the major PV-storage projects in the country. Primergy already finalized its procurement process for Gemini earlier this year. It is now arranging contracts with the global top hardware suppliers and construction service providers that it has selected for the project.
An advanced DC-coupled PV-storage solution designed by Primergy will be adopted for Gemini. Also, a critical part of this solution will be CATL’s EnerOne energy storage system. The EnerOne is based on the LFP battery technology and features a modular outdoor liquid cooling mechanism. Each battery cells in this system has a very long cycle life and is capable of maintaining a constant level of operational temperature. Hence, CATL provides Primergy with the advantages of a long service life, a high degree of integration, and a high degree of safety.
Released in 2020, the EnerOne synergizes several of CATL’s technologies (e.g., long-life LFP cell, battery management platform, liquid cooling mechanism, and cell-to-pack format). Each 280Ah LFP cell in the EnerOne has a discharge rate of 1C and a cycle life of up to 10,000 cycles. Furthermore, the system incorporates a “frequency-conversion liquid cooling mechanism” that limits the temperature difference among cells within 3 degrees Celsius. This is essential in prolonging the service life of the entire system.
Occupying a floor space of just 1.69 square meters, EnerOne has a nominal capacity of 372.7kWh and supports inverters belonging to an operating voltage range of 600-1500V. Moreover, since EnerOne is a complete system unit, it can be transported to a project site in a quicker and more convenient fashion. This, in turn, significantly cuts installation cost and commissioning time. According to CATL, EnerOne has been sold across 25 countries and achieve a cumulative total of 11GWh in product shipments.
Research firm TrendForce points out that Tesla is also a major player in the US energy storage market. Tesla entered the global market for utility-scale energy storage solutions in 2019 with the release its Megapack. Since then, the company has landed many large-scale projects. In 2021, Tesla began building a new Megapack factory in Lathrop, California, because demand were outpacing supply for this product. Moving into September this year, a massive hiring campaign was launched to recruit workers for the Megapack factory, which has the annual production target of 40GWh.
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.