(Yicai Global) Sept. 9 -- Major Chinese electric car and battery maker BYD plans to expand the application of blade batteries to energy storage system products, having already extensively used the new type of power pack in vehicles, according to The Paper.

Shenzhen-based BYD is expected to launch the new energy storage system at home and abroad next year, the report said today. It is now undergoing tests, the report cited Yang Qiyou, vice president of BYD’s energy storage and new battery division in east China, as saying.

Based on the excellent performance of blade batteries in new energy vehicles, the performance and safety of the system will be greatly improved, he added.

BYD’s current energy storage system, Cube, uses an ordinary lithium iron phosphate battery. With blade batteries, the capacity of an energy storage unit of 40-feet equivalent units will jump to 6,000 kilowatt-hours from 2,800 KWh, according to Yang.

Blade batteries are a new type launched by BYD in March 2020. The power packs optimize the structure of ordinary lithium iron phosphate batteries to make their energy density close to the level of ternary lithium batteries. Last July, BYD said all of its new NEVs would be equipped with blade batteries.

BYD has been developing its energy storage business since 2008, and as of last month, its global cumulative installed capacity had reached 5 gigawatt-hours. This is used in over 300 cities in more than 20 countries, but is mainly for overseas markets and is still in its infancy in China, Yang pointed out.

In the first half of this year, BYD ranked first among global manufacturers with sales of 641,350 NEVs, a more than 300 percent annual increase, according to the firm’s own data.

BYD’s first-half net profit soared 206 percent to CNY3.6 billion (USD520.2 million) from a year ago, while revenue jumped 66 percent to CNY150.6 billion (USD21.8 billion).

Editor: Peter Thomas