INTILION, a European energy storage solutions provider, has signed a memorandum of understanding with CATL covering 3GWh of sodium-ion storage systems over the next five years in the German-speaking market.
The deployment covers Germany, Switzerland and Austria, with product going to grid-level peak shaving and commercial and industrial storage.
The product is built for the climate, not the showroom
Tianheng is CATL’s sodium-ion storage product for overseas high-latitude markets, designed for the low temperatures of northern Europe.
The published specification is specific. Cycle life reaches 15,000 cycles. Design operating life is 25 years. The system maintains high discharge power at minus 20 degrees Celsius, which is the operating condition that matters for European grid frequency regulation. The material characteristics of sodium-ion cells also improve safety performance at the station level.
This is a scaling agreement, not a first date
The two companies have worked together since 2022 and have delivered more than 30 storage projects in Germany, accumulating joint experience in project delivery, local operation and maintenance, and grid connection.
INTILION brings integration capability, channel access and customer relationships in the German-speaking region, which is what allows CATL to move sodium-ion from a product sample to a deployed system without building a local sales organisation from scratch.
Why sodium, and why now
European storage demand keeps growing, but the barriers to entry are not commercial. They are physical and regulatory: cold-weather duty cycles, grid access rules, and safety codes that differ by country and are enforced at commissioning.
A system that holds discharge power at minus 20 degrees, runs 15,000 cycles and is designed for a 25-year life addresses the first barrier directly. Sodium-ion chemistry also reduces exposure to lithium price volatility, which matters for a segment where the entire business case rests on levelised cost over two decades.
CATL said the two sides will continue deploying sodium and lithium technologies in parallel in Europe. The 3GWh framework marks Chinese sodium-ion storage moving from pilot projects into scale commercial deployment on the continent.
For European utilities and developers, the practical change is procurement. Sodium-ion is now available on a framework agreement with a local integrator and a German reference base of more than 30 delivered projects, which is the minimum evidence a European bank will accept before financing a storage asset.
Editor’s note: This is an adapted translation of the original Gasgoo report. It has been trimmed and restructured for readability for an international business audience. The full original (in Chinese) is at https://auto.gasgoo.com/news/202610/28I70476124C501.shtml.