On April 1, at the 14th Energy Storage International Summit and Exhibition, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL) showcased its sodium-ion battery for energy storage for the first time under the theme "Sodium-Lithium Dual Stars Creating All-Scenario Energy Storage Solutions." The battery offers a cycle life exceeding 15,000 cycles and can cover large-scale energy storage scenarios ranging from 2 to 8 hours, as well as AIDC energy storage applications, with commercial deployment expected within this year.
An industry expert noted that the energy storage market is currently in a phase of rapid expansion, with accelerated technological iteration. Large-capacity battery cells have become a mainstream trend, and the coordinated development of lithium and sodium technologies has emerged as a consensus among leading companies.
According to sources from CATL, since its release in 2025, the company's 587Ah large-capacity energy storage cell has attracted significant attention regarding its mass production progress. Cumulative shipments of this cell have exceeded 5 GWh. Mass production is supported by the "Lighthouse Factory + Zero-Carbon Factory" in Jining, Shandong, with a daily production capacity exceeding 220,000 units and a defect rate controlled at the parts-per-billion (PPB) level.
The dedicated sodium-ion battery for energy storage exhibited at the event features a platform design shared with the 587Ah lithium battery, utilizing the same casing. It offers a capacity of over 300Ah and an energy conversion efficiency of 97%, enabling maximum compatibility between lithium and sodium battery systems and laying the groundwork for their synergistic application.
Previously, in April 2025, CATL launched its "NaXin" sodium-ion battery, which has already been deployed in passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, and heavy-duty trucks.
The expert further explained that sodium batteries offer advantages such as lower cost and better low-temperature performance. However, lithium batteries still hold an edge in terms of energy density and volumetric efficiency. Consequently, leading companies are actively pursuing the coordinated development of both lithium and sodium technologies to further enhance and broaden the application scenarios for new energy batteries.
On the grid-side application front, the Bu'erhantu 400MW/2400MWh independent energy storage station, a benchmark project located in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, has been successfully connected to the grid. This is one of the largest grid-side independent energy storage projects in China. It marks the first batch application of CATL's 587Ah cells. Compared to traditional 314Ah solutions, the number of components is reduced by approximately 40%, system energy density is significantly improved, and construction and operational costs are effectively lowered.
On the generation-side, the first phase of the Ningdong Modern Coal Chemical Industry Green Power Park energy storage project in Ningxia, with a capacity of 300MW/1200MWh, is currently under active construction. As the largest generation-side energy storage project under development in Ningxia, it fully utilizes CATL's 6.25MWh Tianheng system and 587Ah large-cell technology. Once completed, it is projected to utilize approximately 300 million kWh of green electricity annually, providing strong support for green power consumption and grid peak shaving in the Ningdong coal chemical industry.
The "Energy Storage Industry Research White Paper 2026" indicates that by the end of 2025, China's total installed capacity of new-type energy storage exceeded 100 GW, accounting for over two-thirds of the country's total power energy storage scale. Additionally, data from the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance shows that from January to February of this year, sales of energy storage batteries in China reached 84.8 GWh, a year-on-year increase of 108.9%.
Besides CATL, China Sodium Battery Group has released a 588Ah large sodium battery cell. Furthermore, the first large-capacity sodium-ion battery energy storage system by another major player has successfully completed grid-connection testing at its Jingmen base, entering the stage of commercial operation.
The Secretary-General of the Energy Storage Application Branch of the China Industrial Association of Power Sources commented that currently, lithium-ion batteries still dominate the technological structure. However, with the successive commissioning of multiple hundred-megawatt-level long-duration energy storage projects, the technological landscape is gradually becoming more diversified. The energy storage battery industry is developing multiple technological pathways in parallel, including solid-state and sodium-ion batteries, to meet the core requirements of different application scenarios for energy density, safety, cycle life, and resource constraints. This diversified technological innovation helps the industry reduce reliance on a single technology path, forming a complementary product matrix that breaks through performance bottlenecks and lowers lifecycle costs, thereby laying a solid foundation for large-scale commercial application.
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