China’s CGN New Energy announces winning bidders in 10 GWh BESS tender

China’s independent power producer CGN New Energy has announced the results of its 2025 procurement for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery energy storage systems, which will be installed alongside solar and wind plants as well as standalone facilities.
CGN issued the tender announcement in late November 2024, and revealed the winning bidders this week. The procurement was divided into seven lots, with each one amounting to 1.5 GWh. Lots 1-3 were grid-forming systems totaling 4.5 GWh, while lots 4-7 were grid-following systems totaling 6 GWh.
Haibosichuang, Nanrui Relay Protection and CRRC Zhuzhou Institute were shortlisted and pre-winning bids for lots 1-3 at CNY 0.533/Wh, CNY 0.558/Wh and CNY 0.519/Wh respectively.
Jinpan Technology, Konka Smart Energy, BYD, and Kelong Electronics were shortlisted and pre-winning bids for lots 4-7 at CNY 0.463/Wh, CNY 0.481/Wh, CNY 0.469/Wh, and CNY 0.474/Wh respectively.
A total of 50 companies submitted bids in both grid-building and grid-following lots. There were 33 companies bidding for the three grid-forming lots, with an average bid of CNY 0.6067/Wh. The lowest bid was CNY 0.4977/Wh, and the highest bid was CNY 1.0422/Wh. The difference between the lowest price and the highest price was more than double. Only four companies quoted more than CNY 0.9/Wh, and the rest were less than CNY 0.66/Wh.
A total of 47 companies bid for the four grid-following lots, with an average bid of CNY 0.489/Wh. The lowest bid was CNY 0.458/Wh. Nearly 80%, or 37 companies, bid less than CNY 0.5/Wh. The highest bid was CNY 0.602/Wh, which was also the only bid exceeding CNY 0.6/Wh.
In addition to procuring specifically LFP batteries, CGN New Energy’s latest tender explicitly states that second-life batteries and inventory batteries (produced more than 90 days ago) were not considered. Only single-string or double-string battery cluster solutions were accepted.
Among other requirements was that the battery container must adopt an external maintenance plan. The fire alarm and linkage control system of the battery area and other functional areas in the energy storage container must be separated, and there must be fire isolation between other equipment compartments and battery compartments, and the fire resistance limit must be no less than one hour, the bidding documents read.
Similarly, PowerChina’s 2025-2026 energy storage system procurement, which sought 16 GWh of BESS in its 2025 procurement, stipulated that battery production dates must not exceed three months before actual delivery and that energy storage battery systems supplied in the past three years must have had no fire incidents. PowerChina’s tender saw bids ranging from $60.5/kWh to $82/kWh, averaging $66.3/kWh.