Huawei Digital Power has launched its next-generation Smart String grid-forming energy storage system (ESS) platform, Luterra, introducing what the company describes as five technology breakthroughs aimed at improving energy density, grid support and system safety.
The platform was unveiled at Intersolar Europe 2026 in Munich by Steve Zheng, president of Smart ESS Business at Huawei Digital Power. According to the company, Luterra is designed for utility-scale battery energy storage projects and focuses on four core areas: investment optimisation, higher returns, plant-level grid-forming capability and safety.
“Grid forming is unlocking the potential of energy storage. With over a decade of experience in energy storage technologies and mature practices in global PV+ESS plants, Huawei’s next-generation Smart String Grid-Forming ESS Platform Luterra represents a leap in delivering maximum energy density from a single cabinet to arrays,” said Zheng.
“It features four core values: optimal investment, higher returns, plant-level grid forming, and C2G safety, making it an excellent choice for customers looking to build ESSs for new power systems.”
Huawei said the system incorporates a 1000 Vac smart string architecture designed to improve battery consistency and increase power conversion efficiency through the use of silicon carbide (SiC) modules. It also features a through-busbar architecture intended to simplify installation and capacity expansion while reducing cable requirements.
Other developments include a distributed cooling system that the company says doubles the heat dissipation area while lowering fan speeds and reducing operating noise by around 40%.
The platform also introduces plant-level grid-forming capabilities intended to support synchronous operation across large numbers of devices while adapting automatically to varying grid conditions. Huawei said the system supports minute-level black starts, rapid grid restoration, wideband oscillation suppression and stable operation across different state-of-charge conditions.
Luterra’s dual-level safety architecture
The fifth technology highlighted is a dual-level safety architecture, which Huawei said combines electrical and thermal isolation with AI-based fault prediction to improve operational safety.
Huawei also announced a new intelligent energy management platform designed to coordinate grid-forming operations across entire power plants. According to the company, the system uses AI to optimise charging and discharging strategies and improve plant operation throughout the asset lifecycle.
Steven Zhou, president of Smart PV & ESS Product Line at Huawei Digital Power, said the energy sector is moving towards integrated digital and power electronics technologies.
“We need to continue innovating, integrating digital technologies, power electronics technologies, and energy storage technologies to build new power systems with renewable energy as the main energy source,” he said.
Huawei said the Luterra platform is intended to support the growing deployment of renewable energy by providing greater grid stability, operational flexibility and lifecycle performance for utility-scale energy storage projects.
