(Yicai Global) Sept. 26 -- China’s Hello Tech Energy has secured a large order for portable solar energy storage units from Lidl Stiftung, the German discount store chain operator. Its shares rose.

Hello Tech’s German unit will supply Lidl with Jackery-branded products to sell online and in its stores across Europe, the Shenzhen-based company said on Sept. 23. The units are small solar energy storage devices used to supply electricity outdoors and when power to homes fails, according to the firm’s website.

Demand for China-made portable generators and power stations has soared as Europe faces an energy shortage this winter due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Twenty-seven European Union countries imported 1.3 million electric blankets from China in July, up nearly 150 percent from the previous month, according to data from China’s General Administration of Customs.

Lidl has about 12,000 stores and over 300 logistics centers in 31 countries, Hello Tech noted, adding that the deal will help the Chinese supplier expand its sales channels and raise its market share in Europe.

Shares of Hello Tech [SHE: 301327] closed 0.7 percent up at CNY232.22 (USD32.47) each today, after jumping as much as 4.9 percent in the morning. The stock landed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Sept. 19 priced at CNY237.50.

Net profit at Hello Tech rose 2.2 percent to CNY160 million (USD22.3 million) in the six months ended June 30 from a year earlier on a 36 percent jump in revenue to CNY1.3 billion (USD181.5 million), per its latest earnings report.

Editor: Futura Costaglione