CATL Tener Sodium 30+ MWh block: 7.5 MW for four hours, specifications released

CATL's Tener Sodium battery energy storage system was detailed on Oct. 29 in an ATA Insights webinar by product solution manager David Santiago, pv-magazine.com reports. The product was launched at The Smarter E 2026 in Munich in June with a capacity of more than 30 MWh per block. pv-magazine.compv-magazine.compv-magazine.comOpen source ↗ The four-hour system is built in pairs of cabinets, with two, four, six or eight available. The full block sits in two back-to-back rows of four and measures 18.2 m across, 7 m deep and 3.5 m high.

Block, battery and converter specifications

Each cabinet is about 15 ft long and weighs 44 to 45 metric tons, which gives about 4 MWh per cabinet in the eight-cabinet version. Rated energy is 30+ MWh at up to 0.25P, or 7.5 MW for four hours. Battery voltage is 1,166.88 V DC, within a range of 612 V to 1,387.2 V. CATL specifies 95% round-trip efficiency at 25°C and 0.25P, and 70% state of health after 20 years at one cycle per day. The webinar's degradation curves gave 71.3% after 20 years at one cycle per day and 65.2% after 19 years at two cycles per day; Santiago described them as older estimates.

The liquid-cooled battery operates from −35°C to +55°C, with noise of 65 dB(A) or less, IP55 protection and operation up to 4,000 m without derating. At launch CATL reported 15,000 cycles at 25°C, more than 10,000 at 45°C and more than 92% capacity retention at −20°C. CATL also plans an LFP version in the same cabinets, at around 50 MWh across eight cabinets, with sodium-ion certification prioritized.

The Terapower module combines a bidirectional DC/DC stage with a power conversion system (PCS). The PCS takes 600 V to 1,500 V DC at up to 222 A, is rated at 265 kW and outputs 690 V AC. Peak efficiency is at least 99.2% and full-load efficiency at least 98.5%. It is liquid-cooled, rated IP66, and derates above 50°C and above 3,000 m. pv-magazine.compv-magazine.compv-magazine.comOpen source ↗

Comparison with EnerX LFP and delivery

Against its EnerX 0.25P LFP system, CATL says the sodium-ion cells generate 27.2% less heat per unit of energy at the beginning of life and 32.7% less at end of life. For a 50 MWh station, DC-side refrigeration capacity is 490 kW versus 720 kW, and noise is 65 dB(A) versus 75 dB(A).

For a 500 MWh project, CATL modeled 16 Tener Sodium blocks against 23 EnerX blocks. The layout covers 6,630 m² versus about 9,700 m², roughly 32% less. Areal density is 0.197 MWh/m² versus 0.125 MWh/m². CATL estimated 9.2% lower engineering, procurement and construction costs; the estimate excludes transport, the substation and "DC/AC side" costs.

The product is already delivered in China. For overseas, CATL gave a delivery window of summer 2027; shipping method and cost remain open. At 3.5 m high, a "15ft" cabinet would exceed a standard high-cube container. Santiago said CATL is receiving "a lot of orders." pv-magazine.compv-magazine.compv-magazine.comOpen source ↗