BYD Energy Storage has secured another major contract in the Middle East, signing an agreement with clean energy company Masdar for the battery energy storage element of the world’s first gigascale round-the-clock renewable energy project in Abu Dhabi.
The project, known as RTC, will feature a single-station capacity of 1,644MW/11,275MWh, with 11.275GWh of BYD’s Haohan energy storage system deployed. The announcement follows BYD’s involvement in the 12.5GWh grid-side energy storage project in Saudi Arabia.
Jointly developed by Masdar and the Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC), the Abu Dhabi scheme combines a 5.2GW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant with a 19GWh battery energy storage system (BESS). The project is designed to deliver continuous renewable power by combining solar generation with large-scale energy storage, creating gigascale baseload renewable energy and setting a new benchmark for round-the-clock clean electricity.
BYD said its Haohan system uses the company’s 2,710Ah LFP Blade Battery for energy storage, increasing single-cell capacity by more than 300% while reducing battery management system (BMS) complexity by 70% to 80%. The company said this improves overall system reliability and supports safe, long-term operation while maximising lifecycle value.
The Haohan system offers a minimum unit capacity of 14.5MWh and can provide up to 10MWh within the footprint of a standard 20ft container. According to BYD, this reduces the number of containers required, lowers space requirements and simplifies system management.
Designed for demanding operating conditions, the system can operate in temperatures ranging from -30°C to 55°C and carries an IP66 ingress protection rating, making it suitable for harsh desert environments including extreme heat, dust and sandstorms.
The project will also use BYD Energy Storage’s self-developed GC Master energy management system (EMS), which is designed to manage stations of more than 15GWh while providing real-time data analysis, equipment dispatch, safety warnings and health diagnostics. The company said the platform has already been deployed in several overseas projects with capacities of 10GWh or more.
