Chinese battery manufacturing giant CATL has officially launched the world’s largest and most comprehensive energy storage testing and validation platform in China.
The Xiamen Energy Storage Validation Research Institute (ESVL) officially began operations on May 28, marking what CATL hopes will be an important next step into the era of real-world energy storage validation.
The news comes as CATL chief scientist Dr. Wu Kai announced that the company’s sodium-ion batteries will enter mass production this year.
This development will also allow CATL to redirect its long-term research and development activities towards developing high-density lithium-air systems, which use lithium as the negative electrode and oxygen from the air as the positive electrode reactant.
The technology possesses extremely high theoretical energy density and is expected to be the next battery storage battleground, though a lot of work is currently needed to address safety issues
