CATL and HyperStrong have signed what they describe as the world’s largest sodium-ion battery energy storage cooperation agreement, covering 60GWh of supply over three years.
The agreement, announced on 27 April in Ningde, Fujian, China, positions HyperStrong as CATL’s first strategic partner for sodium-ion energy storage and spans joint work on technology R&D, product applications and large-scale project deployment.
The companies say the deal marks a milestone in the industrialisation of sodium-ion batteries, signalling a transition from pilot-scale activity to large-volume commercial delivery. It also reflects CATL’s claimed progress across the full value chain, including materials, manufacturing processes and system integration.
On the materials side, CATL reports improvements in energy density through morphology control and surface modification. In manufacturing, it says it has addressed scaling challenges in hard carbon anode production—such as foaming and moisture control—using techniques including angstrom-level pore size regulation, surface molecular water-locking and adaptive dynamic formation processes.
For stationary storage applications, sodium-ion chemistry is being positioned as a complement to lithium-ion. CATL highlights advantages including wide operating temperature tolerance, strong high-temperature cycle life, lower heat generation and reduced cell expansion stress, contributing to safety and stability.
The company also points to system-level benefits. In long-duration energy storage (LDES) deployments, sodium-ion batteries can simplify system integration, reduce auxiliary energy consumption and improve overall plant efficiency and economics.
A further factor is compatibility: CATL’s sodium-ion products use the same form factor as its lithium-ion cells, allowing integration with existing manufacturing lines and supply chains. This is expected to reduce adaptation costs and shorten deployment timelines for new projects.
The scale of the agreement—60GWh over three years—comes as global demand for grid-scale storage rises alongside renewable energy deployment. Sodium-ion technology is attracting interest due to the abundance and geographic diversity of sodium resources, offering a potential route to lower-cost and more resilient supply chains compared with lithium-based systems.
Both companies say the partnership will support further commercialisation of sodium-ion batteries and expand their role in large-scale energy storage projects worldwide.
Photo: HyperStrong’s 7.4 GWh grid-side energy storage project in Inner Mongolia © HyperStrong
