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Themis Qi

Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL) hopes to use its energy-storage business to build on its global dominance in electric vehicle (EV) batteries, as the global oil crisis creates a surge in demand for its technologies and products.
The company, which commands nearly 40 per cent of the world’s EV battery market, announced on Thursday the official launch of a 3 billion yuan (US$442.52 million) research facility in Xiamen, a city in China’s southeastern Fujian province.
The Xiamen Energy Storage Validation Research Institute (ESVL), which CATL said is the world’s largest and most comprehensive one-stop testing and validation platform in the industry, will allow energy storage system (ESS) stations to undergo testing in extreme conditions, before their use in local grids.
The testing platform – which is expected to open to the whole industry – may help China-made products expand overseas, according to Chen Xiaobo, head of ESVL, as regulators in Western grids typically have higher standards for safety and technology.
“If the products of domestic integrators expanding overseas can perform well in quality, reliability, safety and connection with local grids [at ESVL], I believe this will rapidly enhance their overall competitiveness,” Chen said at a media briefing on Thursday.
By working with global certification agencies, ESVL can test the energy storage stations based on international grid standards, Chen said. Overseas demand for so-called turnkey projects – referring to ready-to-use facilities – was increasing and could boost company profits, he added, but noted that domestic suppliers currently face an “enormous” profitability gap compared with US giant Tesla.

CATL aimed to use the ESVL to raise industry standards and quicken the validation process to the pre-delivery stage, said Wu Kai, the company’s chief scientist.
Compared with the current on-grid tests, the facility may be able to shorten the validation process by up to two months, according to CATL.
The ESVL facility comprises five laboratories and was designed based on multiple existing testing centres across the world. Chen said the new facility would achieve higher precision, lower current fluctuations and voltage and would have rapid response capability required by artificial intelligence data centres (AIDC).
Amid the energy transition and the investment frenzy for AIDCs globally, ESS demand is on the rise, as it can stabilise an established electricity network and support the adoption of new energy – like solar and wind – as well as reduce energy costs. Lithium-ion batteries form a critical role for AIDCs, an area where CATL is a world leader.
Besides its dominance in EV batteries, CATL also ranked No 1 worldwide in the five years up to 2025 in sales of 121 gigawatt-hour energy storage batteries, achieving a global market share of 30.4 per cent.

But in the ESS market, CATL was out-performed by the industry’s top suppliers, with Tesla, Sungrow, BYD, Huawei and CRRC Zhuzhou Institute taking the top five spots for global shipment volume last year, according to the Taipei-based InfoLink Consulting.
To attract more partners, CATL’s ESVL plans to initiate a small-group alliance and offer discounts for testing services in its early stage.
The data from testing at the site will assist CATL, Chen said, but will also help the whole ESS industry to improve products and technology.
“Only by working together to get the whole industry strong can we all have opportunities,” he said.


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Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL)

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The firm says it has completed a 3 billion yuan research facility for testing energy storage systems


The firm says it has completed a 3 billion yuan research facility for testing energy storage systems.


CATL set to boost global energy storage with world’s largest testing facility in Xiamen

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The firm says it has completed a 3 billion yuan research facility for testing energy storage systems

The firm says it has completed a 3 billion yuan research facility for testing energy storage systems