Clarifying the CATL Tener S 6.017 MWh battery energy storage system

Chinese battery giant CATL is expanding the footprint of its energy storage solutions, quietly securing major project deals for even its less-marketed products.

As noted by ESS News in mid-August, battery giant CATL has supplied its Tener S battery energy storage system (BESS) to at least two major developers. Grenergy announced a deal for 252 of the CATL Tener S product in May, to supply 1.5 GWh at Oviedo and Escuderos, Spain, across two projects. And, the third stage of Quinbrook’s massive Supernode project in Australia will also utilize the Tener S.

Neither announcement, nor the follow-up CATL press release, gave sufficient details about the Tener S and its power output configurations or capacity to be confident in the product’s complete specifications.

The Tener S also hasn’t enjoyed the same flashy launch events as the 9 MWh Tener Stack or the company’s more recent sodium-ion products, and has been more quietly marketed.

Official datasheet specifications acquired by ESS News clarify the Tener S and its significant evolution from CATL. While the EnerC remains listed as a product, it’s a step up over the EnerC and its one-hour storage duration, and the later-released EnerC Plus, designed for a two-hour storage duration.

One detail is that CATL’s own documentation and brochures also explicitly refer to the Tener S as both Tener and EnerS, as the product lineup and naming conventions have evolved.

Specs

The official spec sheet confirms the CATL Tener S (EnerS) is for a liquid-cooled, DC-connected solution at a 6.017 MWh rated energy capacity. It achieves this capacity while maintaining a standard 20-foot container footprint, with a weight of 45 tons. Compared with the original EnerC, rated at 3.72 MWh, and weighed 36 tons, while the EnerC Plus was 4.073 MWh.

As is standard, it operates at 1500 V, and has a typical working ratio of less than or equal to 0.5P, and CATL lists the system with zero degradation, an IP55 rating, and a working temperature range of -35°C to +55°C.

At 0.5P, the effective maximum power output of the system is around 3.01 MW at a two-hour duration. If the system is configured for a four-hour duration (0.25P), the maximum power output would be around 1.5 MW.