CATL opens $440 million energy storage testbed in Xiamen

CATL opened the world's largest energy storage testing facility in Xiamen on May 28, a $440 million proving ground designed to close the gap between installed capacity and real-world performance across the industry.

"Scientific rigor is more critical than ever as energy storage enters the gigawatt era," Dr. Wu Kai, Chief Scientist at CATL, said. "That means being honest about equipment performance, respectful of grid dynamics and disciplined in testing results."

The 10-hectare facility houses five specialized laboratories, including a grid integration lab with a 35kV/100MVA grid simulator — 14 times larger than the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's 13.8kV/7MVA platform. Its thermal safety lab can test explosions on nine large storage containers simultaneously using a 20MW calorimeter, while the high-voltage safety lab covers 1kV to 500kV to investigate fire and explosion mechanisms under extreme conditions.

Nearly one in five large-scale energy storage stations globally underperform, and 46.5% of systems face grid-connection delays exceeding two months, according to CATL's research. The company, which sold 121 GWh of energy storage batteries in 2025 with a 30.4% global market share, designed the open-access facility to help insurers, regulators and financial institutions treat storage as a bankable asset class.

The facility's grid integration laboratory can test more than 10 large-scale storage containers at once and simulate 1,000-node grid topologies across a frequency range of 15 Hz to 60 Hz, enabling station-level grid-forming verification under complex conditions. The electromagnetic compatibility lab is the only facility capable of testing a full 40-foot container under real high-power charge and discharge conditions, using a 65-ton turntable and 5MW power supply.

An environment reliability lab can verify full-system containers in conditions ranging from minus 50 degrees Celsius to 100 degrees Celsius and simulate high-altitude pressure up to 7,200 meters, covering desert heat, coastal salt spray and high-altitude low pressure. The facility works with certification bodies including TUV SUD, TUV Rheinland, CGC and CSA to provide globally recognized testing services.

CATL's push into system-level testing builds on operational experience dating to 2016, when it began developing 100 MWh-class lithium-ion storage technology. A breakthrough in long-life zero-degradation technology in 2020 led to a 30 MW/108 MWh storage station in Jinjiang, China. The company has since expanded globally, including the Quinbrook project in Australia and a large solar-plus-storage project in North America that secured refinancing at a lower interest rate.

CATL's energy storage battery sales reached 121 GWh in 2025, giving it a 30.4% global market share and the No. 1 ranking for five consecutive years, according to the company. The Xiamen facility, jointly established with the Xiamen municipal government, is open to all players in the global energy storage sector.

For investors, the facility represents a bet that rigorous pre-deployment testing will become a competitive differentiator as storage scales. CATL's dominant market position and government partnership in Xiamen give it a structural advantage in setting industry testing standards, potentially raising the bar for rivals including BYD and LG Energy Solution that lack comparable infrastructure. CATL shares trade on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under ticker 03750.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.