On April 1, 2019, a China Telecom energy storage system located at a monitoring station in Jianggan District, Hangzhou became the receiver of China’s first sodium nickel battery. The battery system is provided by Zhejiang AM Power, a joint venture between Chilwee Group and GE.
Sodium Nickel batteries are a high temperature sodium battery. Advantages are its relative safety, environmental friendliness, long life cycle, and cheap manufacturing cost. The batteries pose no risk of catching fire or exploding, can operate in temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius and as high as 65 degrees Celsius, and have life cycles typically two to five times that of Li-ion batteries.