The world's first! CATL launches a station-level sodium-ion battery energy storage solution

On June 22,2026, CATL held the Tianheng 2026 Global Launch Event in Munich, Germany, unveiling the world's first station-scale sodium-ion battery energy storage solution and introducing the demonstration-oriented Tianheng Sodium Battery System. This system delivers customers a comprehensive, hassle-free experience characterized by enhanced stability, reliability, and profitability. During the event, CATL announced that both the sodium battery storage solution and its supply chain have reached commercial readiness and are poised for large-scale deployment.

Wu Dianfeng, Chief Technology Officer of CATL's Energy Storage Division and Director of the Energy Storage Technology Center, emphasized, "Sodium resources are characterized by global distribution, abundant reserves, wide temperature range, and long lifespan, forming alongside lithium as the two fundamental pillars of next-generation energy storage systems."

"A truly excellent energy storage system must not only meet today's economic requirements but also withstand tomorrow's uncertainties," said Xu Jinmei, Chief Technology Officer of CATL's Energy Storage Division and President of its European Energy Storage Business Unit. She emphasized that the Tianheng Sodium Battery Energy Storage System is precisely designed to deliver tangible certainty for energy storage investors.

The Tianheng Sodium-Ion Energy Storage System features individual units with a maximum capacity exceeding 30 MWh, employing a fully modular design that separates the energy storage unit from the power unit. This system requires only 34 units to achieve a storage capacity of 1 GWh at a single facility, significantly simplifying deployment. Additionally, it offers flexible configuration with decoupled energy and power functions, supporting customizable storage durations of 1, 2, 4, 6, or 8 hours. Faulty modules can be quickly isolated and replaced independently, greatly improving the station's online availability and reducing operational maintenance costs.

The Tianheng Sodium Battery Energy Storage Station Platform is specifically designed for sodium battery systems. Addressing the voltage characteristics of sodium-ion batteries, CATL has developed a dedicated Bi-DC bidirectional voltage control system compatible with PCS, ensuring optimal PCS performance under all conditions. Beyond offering extensive PCS compatibility and enhanced grid support capabilities, this system enables a nearly 2% increase in the total renewable energy generation (RTE) of the entire station. For a 1 GWh energy storage facility, this translates to an annual additional power generation of millions of kWh, significantly improving project economics and long-term asset returns.

Furthermore, CATL has specifically developed a BMS system tailored for sodium-ion energy storage systems, leveraging the unique voltage characteristics and enhanced overcharge tolerance of sodium batteries to achieve more precise state-of-charge (SOC) estimation and management strategies. Addressing the persistent issue of large-scale power outages caused by single-point failures in traditional radial topologies of energy storage facilities, CATL innovatively introduced a millisecond-level self-healing system. This solution enables fault localization and isolation within 200 milliseconds and automatic power restoration in non-faulted areas within 150 milliseconds, reducing fault resolution time from the industry standard "weeks" to just 350 milliseconds. In terms of performance, the Tianheng Sodium Battery Energy Storage System achieves five major breakthroughs: First, it delivers an extended cycle life of 15,000 cycles at 25°C; second, it maintains over 92% capacity retention at-20°C and exceeds 10,000 cycles at 45°C; third, compared to lithium iron phosphate batteries, its sodium battery material exhibits 40% reduced expansion force, 60% lower surface temperature during thermal runaway, 35% decreased gas generation, and a raised overcharge SOC threshold to 140%, fundamentally lowering thermal runaway risks; fourth, its ultra-low auxiliary power consumption—thanks to a specialized air-exhaust design that reduces heat generation by nearly 30% versus conventional solutions, combined with high-efficiency liquid cooling—cuts overall auxiliary power usage from the lithium battery industry average of 2% to 1%; fifth, its exceptional quiet operation with merely 65 dB noise levels makes it ideal for noise-sensitive environments such as urban areas and residential zones.

In terms of delivery schedule, the China market will officially deliver the first batch of sodium-ion battery energy storage systems to customers in September this year, achieving annual shipments of 1 GWh by the end of 2026, while the global market will commence deliveries in June next year. This signifies that the sodium-ion battery industry has officially entered a new phase of large-scale application at the GWh level. Meanwhile, Tianheng Sodium Battery Energy Storage is the world's first demonstration-type sodium battery energy storage system. "Demonstration" here means not relying on a single parameter but using full-scale, entire stations as testing units, undergoing systematic validation under conditions that closely resemble real-world scenarios, environments, power grids, and operational conditions.

This verification capability stems from the Xiamen Demonstration Energy Storage Technology Research Institute, established with an investment of approximately RMB 3 billion by CATL. Comprising five major innovation laboratories, it represents the world's largest and most comprehensive one-stop testing and validation platform for energy storage systems across all scenarios. In collaboration with institutions such as TÜV SÜD and TÜV Rheinland, the platform offers "one-test, multiple-certification" services, promoting demonstration-based energy storage as the industry's entry standard.

With the global debut of the first demonstration-scale sodium-ion energy storage system, the gradual fulfillment of the world's largest commercial order for sodium batteries, and the launch of an open demonstration platform accessible to the entire industry, a comprehensive suite of end-to-end solutions covering R&D, validation, delivery, and operation is now being delivered to customers. This will deliver more predictable long-term returns, lower investment risks, and solid confidence for investors in long-duration energy storage. CATL will collaborate with global partners to usher in the inaugural year of large-scale sodium-ion energy storage deployment, injecting greater reliability into the global energy system.