Chinese battery giant CATL has unveiled what it describes as the world’s first field-validated sodium-ion battery energy storage system, moving the technology closer to large-scale commercial deployment.
The company introduced the TENER Sodium Energy Storage System in Munich, Germany, on June 22, 2026.
CATL said the system has passed real-world testing and reached commercial readiness across technology, manufacturing and supply-chain operations.
The company plans to begin deliveries in China in September 2026. It expects cumulative shipments to reach 1 GWh by the end of the year, while international deliveries are scheduled to start in June 2027.
TENER Sodium provides more than 30 MWh of rated energy storage capacity through a fully modular design.
Each module weighs around 42 tonnes. According to CATL, developers would need only 34 modules to build a 1 GWh storage site.
The modular structure allows operators to configure systems for different storage periods. These include one-hour, two-hour, four-hour, six-hour and eight-hour applications.
CATL has separated the energy and power blocks. Therefore, developers can adjust the system according to the requirements of individual projects.
Operators can also isolate and replace a faulty module without shutting down the full facility. CATL says this design can improve availability, reduce maintenance costs and help customers use their storage assets more efficiently.
CATL says TENER Sodium can complete 15,000 charging cycles at 25 degrees Celsius before reaching 70% state of health.
The company estimates that this performance could provide a service life of between 25 and 30 years.
The system is also designed for difficult climates. It can reportedly complete more than 10,000 cycles at 45 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, it retains more than 92% of its capacity at minus 20 degrees Celsius. This could reduce the need for additional insulation or energy-intensive temperature-control equipment in cold regions.
The battery system operates across a temperature range of minus 20 degrees Celsius to 45 degrees Celsius.
CATL has also positioned safety as a major advantage of the new system.
The company says the sodium-ion cells reduce expansion force by 40% and generate 35% less gas during thermal runaway.
It also claims that peak surface temperatures during thermal runaway are around 60% lower than those recorded in comparable lithium-ion systems.
The design is intended to prevent fires and explosions under extreme operating conditions.
Moreover, the battery management system uses the continuously sloping voltage curve of sodium-ion chemistry to calculate the state of charge more accurately.
CATL says the system offers 20% more overcharge state-of-charge tolerance than lithium-ion batteries. This creates an additional operating safety margin.
Sodium-ion batteries operate across a wider voltage range than conventional lithium-ion systems.
To address this issue, CATL developed a dedicated bidirectional voltage-regulation system.
It automatically raises voltage when the battery enters a lower-voltage operating range. This allows the power conversion system to maintain stable output.
CATL says the technology improves round-trip efficiency by nearly 2%.
At a 1 GWh energy storage facility, the improvement could provide millions of additional kilowatt-hours of usable electricity each year.
The voltage-regulation system is also compatible with major power conversion products used globally.
TENER Sodium uses a top-discharge airflow system designed to prevent the formation of thermal hot spots.
CATL says this reduces heat generation by nearly 30% compared with conventional energy storage systems.
The company has combined the airflow design with liquid cooling to reduce auxiliary power consumption.
According to CATL, the system consumes around 1% of stored energy for supporting operations. The industry average is approximately 2%.
For large-scale storage projects, the reduction could save operators millions of euros over the system’s lifetime.
TENER Sodium also operates at around 65 decibels. That is approximately 10 decibels quieter than conventional systems.
Lower noise levels could allow developers to build storage facilities closer to cities, industrial sites and other major electricity demand centres. This could also reduce transmission and distribution costs.
CATL designed TENER Sodium to use the same physical footprint as its lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, storage systems.
Developers can use sodium-ion or LFP batteries on the same platform without changing the enclosure, redesigning the project or repeating certification procedures.
This compatibility could help customers switch between battery chemistries as raw material prices and supply conditions change.
The platform also includes an upgrade path for future 2,000-volt high-voltage architectures.
CATL says rising renewable energy generation and growing electricity demand from artificial intelligence have turned battery storage into critical energy infrastructure.
However, most large battery storage projects still depend on lithium. The supply of lithium is concentrated in a limited number of countries, while its price can change sharply.
Sodium is more widely available and is over 1,000 times more abundant than lithium.
CATL believes its availability, safety, temperature performance and potential cost advantages make sodium-ion batteries suitable for large energy storage projects.
The company expects sodium-ion and lithium-ion technologies to operate alongside each other rather than one completely replacing the other.
CATL has worked on sodium-ion batteries since 2016.
It says it has invested nearly €1.2 billion in research and development over the past decade. More than 300 researchers have worked on the programme.
The company has accumulated more than 1,600 patent families and secured over 200 patents worldwide. It also claims to have solved more than 100 major technical challenges.
CATL has developed the full production process, covering battery materials, cells and complete storage systems.
The company says it can already produce tens of thousands of tonnes of anode and cathode materials.
It has invested RMB 5 billion to expand sodium-ion production at its Fuding facility, adding 40 GWh of annual manufacturing capacity.
Meanwhile, its Jining facility in Shandong has plans for another 160 GWh of sodium-ion battery capacity.
CATL says its mass-production lines are already operational and ready to support large-scale orders.
In April 2026, CATL and energy storage company HyperStrong signed a three-year agreement covering 60 GWh of sodium-ion storage systems.
CATL described it as the world’s largest commercial sodium-ion battery storage contract.
The agreement marked a significant step towards gigawatt-hour-scale deployment of the technology.
With TENER Sodium now entering commercial production, CATL aims to establish sodium-ion batteries as a practical alternative for long-duration and utility-scale energy storage.
The company believes lithium and sodium will jointly support the next generation of global energy infrastructure.
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