Zachary Shahan
4–5 minutes
Grid-scale energy storage is all the rage. Battery costs have come down tremendously in the past decade, and that has enabled large-scale battery storage projects to help the grid balance out supply and demand. This is also particularly useful for integrating low-cost but intermittent renewable energy projects — terawatts worth of them globally. Of course, it’s the electric vehicle industry that has jacked up battery production, and thus helped to drive down costs. BYD is the largest seller of plugin vehicles in the world, and it started out as a battery company, so you can be sure it is now cashing in more and more on this trend toward utility-scale battery storage projects.
On that matter, the Chinese tech giant announced this week that it had “signed the world’s largest grid-scale energy storage projects contracts” with the Saudi Electricity Company. The contracts combine for an energy storage capacity of 12.5 GWh. That adds on to a previous contract between the two entities totaling 2.6 GWh, so it brings Saudi Electric Company’s and BYD Energy Storage’s collaboration to 15.1 GWh.
Saudi Arabia has a goal of reaching 50% renewable energy by 2030 within its electricity sector. This will be a big help in getting the country to that goal.
BYD, meanwhile, is proud to proclaim itself as being at the top of this burgeoning industry. “It also signifies that BYD Energy Storage has established a new milestone in global ultra-large-scale energy storage projects. With its leading technological advantages, exceptional delivery capabilities, comprehensive after-sales support system, and all-around comprehensive strength, BYD Energy Storage has successfully earned high praise and deep recognition from the global market, reaching the peak of the industry,” the company writes.
Here’s more on the technology being used and the purpose of the projects: “The BESS equipment in the signed projects will be installed at five sites in the country. BYD Energy Storage will provide new-generation MC Cube-T ESS to Saudi Electric Company. The systems adopt BYD Energy Storage’s globally pioneering CTS (Cell-to-System) super-integrated technology, with a Vcts (proportion of cell volume to system volume) index exceeding 33%. The 12.5GWh energy storage systems will be fully integrated into Saudi Arabia’s power transmission network system, playing a crucial role in addressing the challenges accumulated by the increasing number of renewable energy power generation systems, ensuring stable power supply, and meeting peak energy demand. Meanwhile, it will promote the development of Saudi Arabia’s energy infrastructure in a flexible, efficient, and economic way, assisting in energy transformation and adding momentum to national energy security.”
BYD’s first stationary battery energy storage system (BESS) was deployed 17 years ago. It has now deployed 350 BESS projects around the world totaling 75 GWh of energy storage capacity. Those projects are located in “more than 110 countries & regions in the global market.” That’s a massive achievement, but it also shows again how huge the scale of this new agreement is with the Saudi Electricity Company. And it shows why the Saudi Electricity Company would trust BYD with the new contract.
Clean energy progress marches on, even over in Saudi Arabia.
https://cleantechnica.com/2025/02/20…-saudi-arabia/
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