Saft opens 480 MWh battery manufacturing hub in China

The company is answering the growing demand for storage systems in virtually all markets. China itself is on a steep trajectory to increase its deployment rate.

With 480 MWh per year Saft will start its Chinese manufacturing operation.

Image: Saft

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Against a backdrop of a growing demand for storage systems globally, Saft has opened shop in China. The subsidiary of French oil major Total said it had opened a new manufacturing hub in Zhuhai, China. After the companies initial factory in Bordeaux, France, which opened in 1949, it took the company 62 years to open its second facility in Jacksonville, U.S., in 2011. Less than a decade later, Saft is now settling on another continent.

According to the company's announcement, the 6.600 m2 Zhuhai factory will pump out an annual 480 MWh of battery storage capacity, neatly packed into 200 containerized turnkey storage systems.

Saft has already started to manufacture its Intensium Max 20 High Energy systems there. The solution comes in 1.2 MW power rating at 2.5 MWh capacity. The systems come with NMC lithium-ion technology, operating at 1000 or 1500V depending on customer needs. The roundtrip cycle efficiency at a charge rate of 0.5 is at 96%.

Saft highlights those storage systems will be a much asked for supplement to countries' power systems. Especially, the series of announcements for a green recovery and net-zero targets will require substantial storage deployment. By 2025, the globally installed storage fleet will be in the order of 34 GWh, the French executives said.

«Investment in our Zhuhai production line shows how we have grown from being a supplier of batteries to providing complete energy solutions,» said Hervé Amossé, executive vice president of Saft. «Costumers are turning to us for fully integrated energy storage and microgrid technology solutions.»

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Currently, the entire installed fleet of battery electric storage systems has a cumulative capacity of 3.2 GWh, with market analysts at Trendforce raising hopes for a 22% compound annual growth rate. Much of that growth will take place in Asia.

Also, market analysts at Wood Mackenzie published data yesterday, claiming that China and the U.S. are on an excellent trajectory to overtake Europe in terms of grid-scale storage deployment, against a backdrop of more favorable policies in these markets.

 

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