Photo/Zhang Han (NBD)

On April 9th, CATL released its new energy storage product - the "Tianheng" energy storage system, which is the world's first energy storage system that can achieve 5 years of zero decay and can be mass-produced.

In terms of size, the "Tianheng" energy storage system can achieve a capacity of 6.25 megawatt-hours in a standard 20-foot container with 30% higher energy density per unit area.

"At present, some energy storage systems are designed for a lifespan of 10 years, but the actual lifespan often fails to meet (the design lifespan). One of the reasons is that there is a conversion factor problem between the energy storage cell cycle and the actual operating end." Hui Dong, chief expert of China Electric Power Research Institute told NBD.

According to statistics from domestic authoritative institutions, some energy storage systems claim to have a 10-year expected lifespan, but the actual lifespan is less than 3 years before facing large-scale retirement; most energy storage companies claim to be able to operate for 20-25 years, and the product cycle life can exceed 10,000 times. However, the actual performance is also not as expected.

NBD learned that in order to overcome the technical challenges such as zero decay, CATL proposed the "extreme manufacturing" concept in 2020, and applied seven intelligent manufacturing technologies to address the three major challenges of "extremely high-quality requirements, extremely complex process flow, and extremely fast production speed".

Data shows that in 2023, CATL's global energy storage battery shipments market share reached 40%, ranking first in the world for three consecutive years. Energy storage business has also become CATL's second growth curve after power batteries.

According to Energy Storage Application Branch of China Industrial Association of Power Sources, it is expected that by 2025, the scale of the new energy storage industry will exceed one trillion yuan, and by 2030, it is expected to be close to three trillion yuan. CATL also said that in the future, the company will continue to provide energy storage solutions for the world.